


One Goddamn Night

by FreeGrain



Series: Mikannie Collection [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Criminal!Annie, Eventual Mikannie, F/F, Gen, Implied Torture, Kidnapping, M/M, Policewoman!Mikasa, Reiner's dah boss, Robbery, criminal gang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:26:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9804482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeGrain/pseuds/FreeGrain
Summary: Annie Leonhardt was taking part in a robbery and everything was going well. Until a gorgeous dark haired girl walked up and started talking smoothly.{Mikannie}{Mikasa x Annie}





	1. Fuck You, Ackerman

Annie's breath turned to mist, condensing the moment it left her lips. It was cold, incredibly cold for Spring. But she thankful for it. The cold forced everyone indoors, absolutely no one was roaming the streets tonight. And it gave her the excuse to shadow her face with her hood and keep her gloves protecting her fingers. It was a good cover.

She paced up and down the path, glancing back at the large building behind her. The National Bank. Her lips curled into a smile. She wasn't out in the cold for fun or anything like that, she was here because that building was also here. She was part of a robbery.

Her best friend, Reiner, had lead a small group of four others into the building, determined to take something of value for themselves. She didn't really know what they took, only that it was hella important that they got it. Honestly, she wasn't really in this for the money they received for selling off the ancient treasures, she was in it for the kick she got of breaking the law.

At the moment, she was on guard duty for the group. She glanced up and down the gloomy street, blue eyes searching for any movement in the dull night. None, save the swirling of mist that cloaked the street. Reiner obviously didn't want anyone finding out they were doing this and he'd appointed her make sure that happened. This was her first time doing things with them.

He'd told her that she was perfectly suited for this job, even though his words were rather insulting to say the least. He said that because she was small, most people wouldn't view her as a threat to them. That much was understandable, Reiner himself was muscular and burly. He looked as though he'd box your head off if you so much as spoke to him. He'd said that she was attractive enough to stall any man and if it was a women, it was her area of expertise.

She hadn't appreciated the jab at her sexuality but she'd agreed to do it none the less. Besides, he couldn't exactly talk about such things with his boyfriend also going on the mission. She really liked Bertolt, he was tall and quiet but nice and kind at the same time. They actually had conversations that she enjoyed. It was obvious that Reiner was the more dominant in that relationship.

The other two were two people she wasn't as familiar with as she was with her best friends. She actually hadn't met them before this job, though Reiner said they were good people. Well, good in a sense that they could accomplish this mission, not good in a good-and-evil sense. None of them were good in that sense.

One of them was Jean Kirstein, an aggressive bloke with a face like a horse and an attitude like he was some great leader. Admittedly, he was a good strategist and could keep a level head but he wasn't the leader. Reiner was. He was okayish, mainly staying away from her and talking to the lads. She didn't mind that, socialising wasn't her strong point anyway.

The other one was the only other girl of the five. Her name was Ymir. Just Ymir, no last name or anything else. Annie didn't trust her at all. Like, she didn't even trust them enough to tell them her last name. And they were meant to trust her on this robbery thing. Ymir was tall and cold with a haughty, I-couldn't-care-less attitude. She didn't seem to like Reiner, though she was chatting it up with Bertolt. Jean avoided her too. Annie didn't really know why she was in this group. As far as she knew, Ymir didn't have much useful talents.

She glanced up and down the road, shivering against her will. Her grey hoodie was only keeping her mildly warm, she wished she'd worn more layers. The night was setting in quickly, the sky fading to a dull black. The streetlights had switched on only a few minutes ago, adding a minuscule amount of light to the darkness.

She paced up and down the road, stuffing her hands into her pockets. Even when moving, she wasn't warm. She stopped walking and leaned back against the icy wall, the gun stuck in the waistband of her jeans digging into her skin. Her eyes circled the path, focusing on a suddenly approaching figure. Someone was approaching.

She narrowed her eyes, gazing down at them. They weren't close enough yet to be able to distinguish their features but she could tell their physical form well enough. Tall, way taller than her, though Annie was incredibly small so that wasn't too hard. Femininely built and well muscled. A girl, she guessed.

The mist parted and Annie could see clearly what they looked like. A tall girl with beautiful, chin length black hair and gorgeously dark eyes. Annie had to admit that she was really attractive. She wore blue jeans and a black jacket closed over her torso, all well fitted to show her body. The girl was most certainly walking her direction, though her destination was steadily unclear. Annie straightened up, smoothing out her hoodie. She had to ignore whoever that was, they needed to get this job done. Without interference.

She tugged the hood lower down her face and stuffed her hands into her pockets, blowing out most puffs in the the impression of cold. Truthfully, she wasn't to miffed by the temperature, it was just annoying. Her gaze steadied on the frost covered pavement in front of her. Ignore Annie, she told herself. Just ignore them. They'll walk on and ignore you too. But it seemed like the other person wasn't going to let that happen.

"Hey."

Annie froze, tensing up her shoulders. Interaction. Actual human interaction. She stared at the ground, breath caught in her throat. Okay, she had to talk to the girl. She couldn't be labelled as a weird creep, that would be suspicious as hell and bad for her rep if she was ever recognised. She forced herself to look up into the gaze of one of the most attractive people she'd ever seen. That fact didn't help at all.

Annie had never given her sexual orientation much thought. Honestly, she didn't really care about it. She was who she was and she didn't need any labels to announce that to the world. She was her own person and no one could change her. But damn, this girl was hella good looking. She looked down at Annie, head titled to the side and dark eyes gleaming into hers. Annie swallowed, uncomfortably.

"Hey."

Okay, okay. That wasn't too bad for first time talking to a hot girl. But seriously, she needed game. This girl was really, really attractive. That didn't help her talking skills one bit. She stared upwards, taking in how tall this girl was. She was jealous of that bit. Reiner and co often teased her because of her height and here was this chick towering over her and looking at her with those dark eyes...

"Sorry, can I like stand beside you? It's just, it's really cold and, um, body heat? You wanna warm me up?"

Annie arched an eyebrow at the taller girl, intrigued by her. What sort of a question was that? She frowned, staring up at her. Pick up line or just awkward with her words? Doubt that, because it was still a weird line to pull. Still, she didn't mind but how on Earth was she going to say that.

"Sure. The more the merrier."

It just slipped out without her thinking. Instantly, she cursed herself inwardly. She sounded so sarcastic. Geez, she was absolutely awful at this. She tried to smile awkwardly at the girl to tell her she was genuine but it felt so strange that she bet she looked as though she was in pain.

The girl didn't seem to mind, slipping into place next to Annie against the wall. Their arms rested next to each other, both covered by fabric but still able to feel the other's presence. Annie's heart started to beat faster with nerves. This was new waters for her. Annie didn't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, never had one ever. She didn't know what to do.

"Thanks. I'm Mikasa, by the way. Mikasa Ackerman."

Mikasa Ackerman. She'd heard that name before, though she couldn't quite place it. She shrugged it off. Probably someone Reiner knew and mentioned to her before, he'd contacts all over the city. It wouldn't be too surprising if she was one.

"Annie Leonhardt, It's nice to meet you, Ackerman."

It was Mikasa's turn to arch her eyebrow at Annie, a smooth movement of her perfect face. But she didn't look annoyed with her, only amused with a tinge of satisfaction. Annie smiled back at her, not in the least bit sorry. She spoke what she wanted to. Brutally honest was how Reiner described it.

"Well, what are you doing out here, Annie? It's freezing and like ten o'clock at night. Surely, you got a better place to be then stuck her in the cold," Mikasa asked, eyes gleaming.

"Nah not really," Annie said, surprising herself with her carelessness. "Just waiting for a ride. Unfortunately, my bastard of a brother's not coming for me anytime soon." The lie rolled so easily off her tongue, something she'd perfected over the years.

Mikasa smiled, a flirtatiously cheeky smile. Annie knew enough about flirting to recognise it. "You can always ride me, sweetie."

Annie's jaw dropped, body tensing up. She could feel the heat on her cheeks as a blush rose to her skin. Fuck, fuck, fuckidy, fuck, what do I do now? she thought. Dammit. Mikasa winked and Annie blushed even more. Damn that girl and her way with words. She was absolutely speechless.

"Too forward? Sorry," Mikasa smiled. "Most girls like it when I'm blunt with things. They find it... sexy..." She leaned forward, face barely two inches away from Annie's. The taller girl playfully bit her lip and Annie felt a heat stoke deep within her. Still, she remained silent, blue eyes caught on the dark ones.

Mikasa pulled back, leaning her head back against the wall. Disappointment was obvious in her expression, though she tried to hide it. "Ah well, guess I'm not your type then, huh? So what's your story? You got a boyfriend or a fuckbuddy that's better than me? That's a shame, you're really cute."

Annie's mouth went dry. She knew she needed to talk, put herself into the conversation and tell Mikasa that she was interested. She had to. Because honestly, she liked Mikasa like that. Still, this was uncharted waters, she had no idea how to flirt.

"No."

Mikasa arched her eyebrow, lips curling slightly. "No? No, I'm not your type?"

Annie shook her head, raising her blue eyes to Mikasa's black ones. "No, not that. You are my type and no, I don't have a boyfriend. That's not what I'm in to, honey."

Mikasa didn't say anything. Instead, she moved in, soft hands cupping Annie's face. She knew what Mikasa was about to and didn't try to stop her. She actually wanted it. She wanted Mikasa to kiss her. That wasn't usually what she was like. Only five minutes she'd known this girl and already, they were kissing. This was a good day.

Mikasa's lips met Annie's, kissing her gently at first. Soft movements of their mouths as they made out in the cold night. It was amazing. Annie grabbed Mikasa by the front of her shirt, pulling her closer. Mikasa took this as permission to step it up a bit. Their tongues were brought into play, a feverish fight for dominance. Annie lost and Mikasa slowly explored her mouth. The taller girl pinned her to the wall, hands moving down from her face to her waist. Her thumbs brushed the soft material of Annie's hoodie, slipping underneath to touch her skin beneath.

Annie pulled back, blue eyes wide with exhilaration. Whoa. Mikasa's thumbs rubbed small circles on her skin. She stared up at Mikasa, the dark haired girl smiling down at her.

"Well, Annie..." Mikasa smiled. "You are one hell of a kisser."

Annie smiled, chuckling a little bit. She laid her head on the girl's shoulder, letting her hold her weight. Mikasa didn't mind, gazing down at her with an odd emotion. Geez, this was one hell of a night. She really didn't expect it to go this way. She'd expected to just stand in the cold and wait for the others to finish up. She looked up.

"Tell me why did you talk with me?" Annie whispered, suddenly. "Why did you openly hit on me? I mean like you said I was cute but what are you doing here?"

"Same reason as you," Mikasa smiled, though this time it wasn't as warm as her other ones. "I'm here because of the robbery."

It took a few seconds for Annie to register what she'd said. Robbery. She said robbery. The robbery. The one Reiner and the others were on right now. The one Annie was also a part of. She was here because of it. What? How could Earth could she have possibly known about it? Unless...

Annie reached for the gun stuck in the back of her jeans but Mikasa was faster than she was. A knee smashed into her chest and she doubled over, wheezing as her breath was shoved from her lungs. Mikasa's elbow crashed into her back and she was sent sprawling onto the ground. She hit her head hard, crying out in pain, her eyes watering as she strained to see. Dammit. Dammit all to hell.

She'd let Mikasa's good looks distract her from the mission. She was fool to actually think that someone like her could ever be interested in herself. If only she'd realised, if only she'd been thinking! This had seemed like such a good night but in reality, Ackerman had just been playing her. Annie cursed herself. Dammit. Reiner was not going to be pleased.

Mikasa straddled Annie from behind, one hand closing around her neck to hold her still. "You are really cute, Leonhardt but I'm just doing my job." She sounded proud, proud of how she'd fooled Annie and got her on her knees. Annie's anger bubbled. "Annie, you're under arrest for the assistance-"

Annie suddenly launched herself off the ground, throwing Mikasa off her. All she needed was few seconds and things would be okay. Mikasa was thrown back against the stone wall, the girl crying out. Annie was on her feet in a instant, yanking the gun out and pointing it at her. She levelled it with Mikasa's chest, finger lingering on the trigger. But she didn't pull it. She wouldn't get the satisfaction of doing so yet.

She turned the barrel away from the dark haired girl and towards the sky, letting out one shot. The shot flew upwards, stuttering into a spiral of red smoke and bright sparks. A signal flare. That was the warning sign they'd agreed on. Red smoke meant the mission was to be abandoned and they were to return to base. The mission was compromised. She knew the other police in Mikasa's accompanying force must have seen it but she knew that that was the only thing she could do at the moment.

"Fuck you, Ackerman," Annie snapped.

Then the police cars started to pull up around the bank, sirens suddenly blaring at the highest volume. The once quiet and still night was filled with noise and action as Annie started to run from them. She burst through the doors of the National Bank, dodging a shower of glass as a couple of bullets followed her, breaking the glass doors with ease. Dammit.

She needed to find the others and they all needed to get out of here. In a few minutes, the whole place would be surrounded and swarming with officers all armed with guns. They'd be trapped and definitely get caught. They wouldn't get out alive.

She ran, not really caring where she was going at the moment. The police were entering the building, guns held out in front of them as they fired at her. Luckily for her, each shot missed her and she escaped unharmed. She ran deeper into the building, heading down the many weaving corridors. She hadn't got a clue where she was but anywhere was better than with the guns.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed the front of her shirt, yanking her off her feet and into a broom closet. She was spun through the air and hit the ground, air being forced out of her lungs as she hit the wooden floor.

"What the fuck is going on, you little bitch?!" Ymir hissed at her, snapping the door shut behind them angrily. "You fired the God damn signal! What the hell, we're not done here!"

Annie sat up, glaring at the girl. Ymir stood in front of her, eyes wide and full of fury. But beneath that anger, she could see the tell-tale signs of fear. "The police are fucking outside this god damn building, you dumbass! We need to get out of here. Now!"

Ymir's face fell, panic swiftly rushing not over her features. She stood back from Annie, hands running frantically through her hair. Annie stood up, dusting herself off and glaring at the girl. She didn't have time for this. She didn't have time for Ymir's worries. She needed to find Reiner and Bertolt and get out safely. Jean didn't really matter to her. He could go fuck himself for all she cares.

"No," Ymir whispered to herself. "No. I'm so sorry, Krista... I was just trying to help..." She stared to sob, throwing her head back to stare at the ceiling. "I didn't mean... My dear Krista... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Annie slapped her hard across the face, the sound echoing loudly about the small closet. Ymir's cries stopped and she stared at Annie, face shifting to shock. Annie sniffed in contempt. "Pull yourself together, bitch! We need to get out now, otherwise we're absolutely screwed. Whoever the fuck Krista is, it sounds like you need her. Get out for her. Come on, mate, help me out. I wanna live."

Ymir stared at her for a few seconds, eyes strangely empty, then slowly nodded, her voice hollow. "Okay. Okay. Got it. Yeah. Lead the way, boss." She sounded slightly dejected but ready to go.

Annie threw open the door and stared to run again, Ymir hot on her heels. She needed to find the others. Okay, Reiner had said something about documents. Important documents they needed to retrieve. The main office was where they needed to go.

She altered her course, weaving back towards the entrance. It was risky going back towards the police but they had to take the chance. There was nothing else they could do at the moment. All the while, Ymir silently followed her which was odd for the usually sassy girl. Usually, she'd have made smart comments or rude remarks about everything. She was thankful for the silence and the ability to think.

They made it there without running into a single guard which was weird and wrong. They definitely should have at least seen one. Something was off. When she appeared into the main hall, the reason was right in front of her.

The guards and Reiner were having a stand off, both sides glaring each other down with eyes glowing with anger. But the only reasons the guards weren't firing him down, was the girl he held a gun at. Dark hair, absolutely gorgeous, Mikasa. Annie shoved that through from her mind, rushing over to his side. The guards paid her virtually no attention. Bertolt stood behind him, pale faced and terrified. His own fun trembled in his hands. Reiner glared them down, shifting Mikasa in his grasp.

"Let her go, kid, and no one gets hurt," said the head guard, Captain Levi Ackerman. He wasn't aiming for them, instead merely eyeballing them down. He was short but his muscles bulged from beneath his shirt. He had a careless attitude to him.. But Annie knew it was just show. He wasn't going to make a move, not with Mikasa's life on the line. Captain Levi was much to honourable for that. And besides, she knew now why Mikasa's name was so familiar to her. She was Levi's niece, another Ackerman and a prodigy at that.

"Shut up, you fool!" Reiner snarled. "Move aside! All of you! Now! Or I'll blow her brains out! Do you fucking want that?!"

The Captain glared at them, his neck muscles twitching. A few tension charged seconds passed and then finally he raised his hand. "Let them pass."

The guards reluctantly started to shift aside, all still aiming for them with their guns, eyes narrowed in anger. Mikasa writhed in Reiner's grasp but the muscular boy had a firm grip on her. She wasn't getting anywhere. Annie slowly followed Reiner as they moved for the door. Silence spoke volumes between the two sides, tension rising with each step they took. They made it out the door without any problems.

They moved silently across the path and towards their escape car, a big white van. Annie personally hated it. It was too easy to spot and not fast enough to outrun the smaller and faster police cars. It was stupid and too stereotypical but Reiner enjoyed the kicks he got out of it.

Jean got into the front, turning on the engine with his keys. He hadn't spoke and didn't look all that bad. Of course, he was pale faced but he wasn't sweating like Bertolt. He stared straight ahead, jaw tight and clenched. Annie and the other two got in the back.

"We'll catch you, you bastards," Levi growled. "I'll fucking make you pay for this. You'll all rot in prison and I'll be there the whole time, mocking you. You don't harm someone I care about and get away with it."

Reiner flipped him the finger with one hand. "Fuck you, Captain." Then he slammed the door shut and Jean started to drive. The guards didn't follow, thankfully and Annie could finally breathe again.

Reiner didn't release his grip on Mikasa, holding her tightly. But he looked at her, eyes dark with anger.

"Well, Leonhardt. Looks like we've a problem on our hands."


	2. She's a Liability

Annie sat in the back of the van, staring hollowly at the ground. She couldn't believe what had happened. They'd been caught. The Survey Corps, the police force in their area, had caught them so easily. What the hell? How could they have? They'd planned everything carefully and calculated the risks. There was no way that could have happened.

She looked up, eyeing each of her companions to try and see how they were taking this.

Jean sat up at the front of the van, his hands clenched firmly on the steering wheel. He didn't move or look back at them, save the slight twist of his hands to turn a corner. His eyes were fixed on the road, unmoving from it. His jaw occasionally twitched slightly. He was absolutely terrified but trying to keep it under control.

Ymir sat bunched up in the corner opposite Annie, her long fingers frantically swiping across the screen of her iPhone. She was texting someone. Probably trying to contract that Krista girl she'd been talking about in the closet. She didn't look up, not even when the van hit a pothole.

Bertolt was sitting on a wooden box, staring at the ground, his eyes wide and hollow. He was expressionless and, like Jean, he wasn't moving. The taller man was even paler than usual, his breath short and shallow as he breathed in frantically.

But when she looked over at Reiner, she saw only pure fury in his eyes. He glared at her, a thick vein in his neck pulsing with every beat of his heart. She shrank beneath his gaze and could only look at him for a few seconds. She had to look away, ashamed.

Of course, he was angry with her. It was her fault they'd been caught and the mission had been compromised. She'd gotten distracted by Mikasa and had let her guard down for a few minutes. That one, little slip up had cost them so dearly. The police had gotten in and now, they knew what they looked like, knew their identities. Her face was going to be hunted forever until they caught her. She'd never be able to escape this life now.

Mikasa stared at her too, the dark haired girl's neck tightly clenched in Reiner's arms. She, wisely, didn't move because if she did, it was likely that Reiner would snap her neck there and then. Or he'd shoot her in the head. Reiner was angry and an angry Reiner was not something to be missed with. He'd fucking murder you.

Annie couldn't hold her gaze either, but not because she was feeling guilty. Instead, her insides boiled with anger. She felt so betrayed and her heart ached. It was rare that Annie ever felt something for another person. It was even rarer that that person seemed to return the feelings. She'd thought Mikasa actually had an interest in her but the fact that she'd played on her feelings and taken advantage of Annie, it hurt so much.

The van roared down the roads, Jean determined to get far away from the place as fast as possible. She didn't blame him. From what she'd heard about Jean, that man actually had a life outside of the messed up group. Ymir did too but she didn't know anything about her. Jean apparently had a boyfriend called Marco and they were 'deeply in love'. Jean was now a fugitive and the chance of them ending up together was decreasing by the second.

They all drove in silence except for the frequent beeps from Ymir's phone. No one wanted to talk, it wasn't the time for small talk or foolish banter. Annie didn't know where they were going but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed. But that would be so foolish. That would be the first place the police would look.

Eventually, they pulled up by a massive mansion, coloured white and clean. It looked as though it hasn't been in use for a long time. The gravel crunched under the wheel as the van curled to a stop. Jean turned the engine off and pulled the key out. No one moved to get out or anything. They all just sat there.

"Well, what now?"

Mikasa's voice broke through the silence, her words sounding bored and drawling. Everyone turned and looked back at her. Even Ymir looked up from her phone. Mikasa didn't look put off, only glared back with her lips curling slightly.

As though Mikasa's words had been a jolt of electricity, Reiner was suddenly spurred into action. He jumped up from his position on the floor, yanking Mikasa up with him.

"Out!" he yelled. "Out and into the house now!"

Annie was the first up, shoving open the back doors to the van. Reiner's rage was terrifying even for someone like her. Bertolt, someone who knew well enough what he was like, was close behind her.

Annie's feet hit the gravel, a soft crunch beneath her boots. She quickly started walking towards the house, eyes scanning. She hadn't been here before. The door was unlocked, the key still in the lock. She guessed it was like that incase of emergencies like this. Still, it was kinda stupid to leave the house unlocked like that. Anyone could just stroll in and nick stuff or burn the whole place down.

The house was coloured white inside. Like everything was white. White walls, white doors, white chairs, everything. The house was legit all white. A layer of dust covered everything. Their movements stirred it up, sending her and Bertolt into a spur of coughing. They moved further into the house until Annie found the kitchen.

She ripped a sheet of one of the kitchen chairs, white again, and sat down heavily. Her gun clinked against the wood and she pulled it out of her jeans. What was she doing here, in this house, with a gun? What on Earth had she gotten herself into? She stared at the flare gun, blue eyes shining. She should never have agreed to do this. Reiner was just so persuasive and he made it sound like it would be easy and fun. But by hell it wasn't.

Jean entered the kitchen, his horse face cold and sad. Ymir entered next and then an incredibly angry Reiner. Reiner shoved Mikasa into Ymir, who caught the girl with only mild surprise. Mikasa didn't struggle, only leaned casually against the taller girl. Reiner stormed over to her.

Before Annie could speak, Reiner grabbed her by the collar of her hoodie and slammed her into the wall. Annie let out a cry of pain as she hit the plaster with a force enough to break a table. Damn, she'd have bruises for weeks. Reiner was all up in her face, his nose about an inch away from her own. His nostrils flared, his breath hitting her own and she stared up at him, fear suddenly flowing through her veins.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing, Annie?!" he snarled. "What the fuck?! Have you any idea how fucking important that was?! You cost us that mission and now we're all gonna be hunted down by that fucking squirt, Levi!"

He slammed her into the wall again but this time, she didn't cry out. She was frozen.

"Reiner!"

Bertolt grabbed Reiner by the shoulder and the tall guy looked him in the eye. The two lovers stared each other in the eye, an unspoken conversation passing between them. All the while, Annie could barely breath, she was that terrified. Slowly, Reiner's grasp slacked on her hoodie and she slipped to the ground. Annie's feet hit the ground but she didn't stand. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground.

"We'll sort you out later, Leonhardt," he growled, turning away from her. "But first things first. This chick here. What we gonna do about her?"

Everyone's gaze turned to Ymir and Mikasa. Ymir was just staring down at the shorter girl, eyes wide with confusion. Mikasa wasn't being restrained or anything, just leaning back against Ymir's body as though they were best friends or something. She folded her arms, looking super chill and as though she didn't care what was going on.

But when everyone's eyes fell on her, Mikasa shifted uncomfortably, straightening up. Ymir took a small step away from her, eyes wary and hands ready for anything that might come at her.

"Well, let's talk logic here," Jean said, calmly.

It was the first time he'd spoken since the beginning of the mission and he sounded so calm that it startled everyone. Annie curled into a tighter ball, refusing to meet Mikasa's questioning gaze.

"Now, currently, this girl is a hostage," Jean continued. "So we have three options and we can only choose one. Number one; kill her. She's a liability, will probably attempt to escape and she's already seen our safe house. If she gets out, we're all screwed. For safety matters, generally. Number two; contain her. Basically, I mean keep her here as a prisoner-like hostage. Captain Levi won't kill us if we have her life in our hands. He cares to much about his niece, cousin, whatever. And finally, number three; release her. Now this is the only one I'm against, the others I'm perfectly chill with. It basically means letting her go. If we let her go, she'll just scamper off to the Survey Corps and we'll get caught. Bad idea."

There was a stunned silence after his long speech on 'What to do when you have a hostage'. He should write a book or something, that would be amusing. Annie stared at Jean, surprised by his words. He'd been so silent, so secretly panicked that she'd assumed he was freaking out and traumatised. But here he was being all cold and calculated with his strategy and options and stuff it was so weird.

"So option one or option two is what you're saying?" Reiner asked, finally breaking the silence.

Jean nodded. "That's right. They're the logical approaches."

Reiner nodded impressively, turning about to look them all in the eye. Annie shrank beneath his gaze, curling up even more. She wasn't ready to face his wrath yet. He wasn't kind when he was angry. "Okay. I say we put it to a vote. I personally, want option one but whichever comes out top will be what we'll do."

Everyone nodded.

"Okay option one, raise your hands."

Reiner raised his hand confidently, watching the others for their reaction. To Annie's surprise, none of the others raised their hands. Usually, they all followed Reiner and did what he said. He was the boss so he knew best. Ymir gazed at the floor, shaking her head gently. Jean shrugged, even having the nerve to flash them a cocky grin. Bertolt touched his boyfriend's hand lightly.

"We're not killers, Rei," he said softly. "We don't want to be either."

Reiner shook him off, obviously not in the mood for Bertolt's kind words.

"Doesn't matter, not now," he stated gruffly. "Option two, hands up."

This time Annie raised her hand. She might have mixed feelings about Mikasa but she wasn't going to just kill her in cold blood. That wasn't what she'd signed up for, none of this was. Ymir raised her hand, finally raising her head to look at them. She looked calm once again. Damn, everyone in this group was so odd and so queer. Like literally. They were all so gay and able to hide their emotions so well. They were all meant to be, she thought bitterly.

Bertolt raised his hand and reached out with his other one to touch Reiner. Reiner angrily shrugged him off and Bertolt withdrew his hand, smiling sadly. Jean didn't choose either side and it didn't matter. Even if he choose Reiner's side, majority rules and Mikasa would be contained.

"Okay, fine," Reiner grumbled. "We'll lock her up somewhere for a while."

Mikasa arched an eyebrow, having stayed silent the whole way through the debate/conversation thing. Reiner grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her out of the kitchen. Once he was gone, everyone seemed to breath easier. Annie, herself, felt so much safer and that sliced at her heart. Reiner was her best friend and here she was absolutely terrified of him. Some friend she was.

Bertolt stared after Reiner, his expression sad and wistful. Things weren't going so well for the boys' relationship as far as she could see. Bertolt was being pushed away even though he was just trying to help the aggressive man.

Ymir immediately yanked her phone out of her pocket, quickly starting to type again. Annie frowned at her. What was this new thing about her texting all the time? Sure, Krystal or whatever her name was, would like to know what's going on but this was too extensive.

Jean, however, strode over to her, glaring down at her. He might look calm on the outside but his eyes were clearly terrified and a little crazy. She could see that now that they were so close to her own.

"What were you thinking, Leonhardt?" he said, voice calm but barbed with anger. "You're new to this group and you couldn't possibly understand what you've gotten yourself into. I don't care about you but damn, Annie, you're fucking screwed. Reiner and the others will eat you alive."

Annie didn't understand. Sure, she'd messed up the mission, they'd established that. Why was she so screwed? Reiner was furious with her but like it wasn't as extreme as Jean was making it out to be. And who were these 'others' he'd mentioned? Bertolt and Ymir? No, that didn't make sense. They weren't going to fuck her over, they weren't like that.

Jean turned away and walked back across the kitchen, making me for the fridge. White again, what was this house and white? She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, hugging them to her chest. Dammit, she was supposed to be better than this. She was Annie Leonhardt, the cold and bitter unsociable bitch that didn't talk. She wasn't afraid of people or anything.

Well, actually she was terrified of so much but she never let that show. That was a rule that she'd promised and kept to herself. 'Never let them see your fear'. So far, it had helped her in life.

The kitchen door opened with a bang and they all jumped. Reiner stomped into the kitchen, his muscular arms practically bulging from within his t-shirt.

"Leonhardt," he growled. "You're in charge of that Ackerman bitch. Consider this part of your punishment for fucking up. She's not to leave that room, you understand? Nowhere, there's an ensuite going off the room so you should be okay. But if she fucking gets out, I'll rip you limb from limb."

Annie hopped up of the floor, nodding quickly. He stepped aside and she was out of kitchen door in a shot, leaving the texting Ymir and carrot-eating Jean behind. She heard Bertolt move towards his boyfriend, trying to calm his anger. But Reiner wasn't in such a mood. She quickly moved on.

She was out of the main corridor that they'd entered when first coming into the building. Only then did she realise that she didn't know where he'd locked Mikasa up. And there was absolutely no way that she was going back in there again. She'd just have to look and deduce it out.

She'd think about it the way Jean did. Okay. If Reiner was thinking right, he'd have locked her somewhere upstairs where it would be harder to get out. The windows had a higher drop from which you'd probably shatter an ankle and if she tried to come through the house, they'd notice before she managed to get to the door.

So upstairs was where she was going to check first. The stairs were close to the front door, packed along the side of the main hall. White who'd and white carpet. Seriously, this place needed a redesign with less white. Possible red would be a nice colour.

The second storey held nothing but bedrooms and a few others; like exercise, computers etc. No Mikasa to be found. She hurried along up the next flight of stairs. The house was a three storey building with an attic as far as she could see. Mikasa had to be up here somewhere.

The third door she tried was locked. Bingo, one Mikasa found. Now for the key. It wasn't in the lock and she didn't have one on her. Dammit. What was Reiner playing at? He couldn't possibly have expected her to get in without a key. Was he trying to humiliate her? No, there had to be one around here. That would make more sense.

After a few minutes of searching, she found the key hidden beneath a carpet. She inserted it into the lock and twisted. Sure enough, the lock opened with a click. But she lingered outside for a bit. She didn't want to look Mikasa in the face, it hurt too much.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The room was a bedroom, a lot fancier than the ones downstairs. And it thankful, wasn't coloured all white. It had a variety of colours and if warmed her heart to see that. The white was annoying.

Mikasa sat at the end of the bed, hands stretched above her head and handcuffed to the wooden frame. She still looked absolutely gorgeous, a little bored though. Annie paused to stare at her, taking in everything about this scene. Dark eyes, dark windswept hair and pale skin glinting in the sunlight. Her red scarf hung loosely about her neck, her arms raised above her head. Admittedly, there was something quite sexily kinky about what was going on here. She could imagine having Mikasa in chains to do what she wanted. Jesus, what a night that would be.

"Are you just going to stare at me, Annie?"

Annie jumped, suddenly being sparked into life. She shook her head, quickly chasing away those strange, dirty thoughts. Now's not the time Annie, she thought. Focus.

"No," she said coldly. "Not at all. I'm here because Reiner told me that I've to take care of you."

"Well, there's no need for that," Mikasa shrugged, carelessly and Annie's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your help, I never need help from anyone. Certainly not anyone helping Reiner anyway."

"You're a downright bitch, you know that? Reiner's a good guy, don't you dare insult him," Annie shot back. "He's a good person."

"He's not what you think he-"

"You know what, fuck you, Mikasa," Annie snapped, cutting her off. "Don't go talking shit about my best friend. I know him better than you ever will. Fuck you."

"Excuse me, you're the one that fucking kidnapped me!" Mikasa shot back. "I think I should be the angry one, the one giving out!"

Annie lunged forward, hands grabbing the girl by the front of her top. She roughly lifted her up to her face, blue eyes full of a desperate hate. "How fucking dare you?! You were toying with me, Mikasa! You were playing on my feelings and using them against me! Fuck the mission, I couldn't care less about that! It was the fact that I actually thought you had an interest me! That I was stupid enough to believe you! Fuck you."

Mikasa stared up at her, shock evident in her expression. "I-"

Annie dropped her, taking a step back. Her heart clenched and twisted in her chest but she didn't let it show. She couldn't let it show. "You played me like a God damn instrument," she whispered. "You hurt me."

"I'm sorry, Annie," Mikasa said softly. "It wasn't meant to be like that."

Annie turned around, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Nothing ever turns out the way we plan it. That's life, we just have to deal with it." And with that, she left the room, tears running freely down her face.


	3. Ah to Hell With It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if the characters seem a little different, I've only started this up again recently ^-^
> 
> FreeGrain

Annie stalked out of the room, her heart thumping wildly in her throat. Damn. It felt so damn good to have spat that out in her face, no matter how much it hurt. Fuck Mikasa. Fuck everyone. Fuck feelings. She didn't need these stupid emotions clogging up her mind. Fuck it. Fuck everyone.

Annie walked down the stairs, her tearful rage subsiding as she descended towards the ground. Ah shit, what the heck had that been? She shook her head. For now, as much distance between her and Mikasa was the best. Sure, Reiner had told her to take care of her but for now, she didn't have to. She could just walk away and leave it alone.

When she entered the kitchen, Jean and Ymir were still there. Jean was at the counter, chopping something on a wooden board. His back was to her. Ymir was still texting, though she'd the decency to turn her sound down. Thank god. She'd enough of the little clicks of her keyboard. Those the two may have been there but Reiner and Bertolt were not to be seen.

"Boss and Bert have gone for a spin," Jean said without looking up. She wasn't aware he'd even heard her come in. He was a sharp one. She'd have to remember that. "To chill Reiner out. You got lucky Leonhardt."

Annie sank into one of the kitchen chairs with a sigh. Thank god. She wouldn't have to deal with them for a while. Reiner was not one to mess with when angry. Hopefully he'd have burnt it off but the time he got back. "Don't remind me," she muttered. "I thought he'd kill me by the way he was acting."

Jean let out a bitter laugh. There was not a ounce of humour in his tone. "You and I both. He's fucking furious. Raging. That robbery wasn't just some dumb shit we decided to pull. It was something important to him. We screwed up and now he's flipping balls."

That piped Annie's curiosity. Important? What did he mean by that? As far as Annie had been concern, this was just your average heist for the money. But it was important? Reiner wasn't poor, he'd enough to easily get by on. So what else? "What do you mean?"

Jean cast a look back at her, a slight smirk on his lips. Annie sniffed. He seemed to enjoy having a little bit of superiority over her. "I forgot, you're new," he said, his voice level. Calm and controlled. Something interesting. "You weren't told the back story ?"

Annie shook her head. Nope. All she'd gotten was what she had to do. "All Rei said was he needed an extra person to keep watch. I didn't ask questions, didn't really care. I just did it for the kicks."

"The kicks? You're one hardy woman, excuse the name pun," Jean sniffed, his voice incredulous. "We were robbing a bank and you wanted kicks?"

Annie shrugged, leaning back on her chair. The two front legs teetered of the ground, tipping her backwards. "What can I say? Life is boring without some excitement. I was bored and Reiner came up with an offer. College is boring. Work is boring. Breaking the law, now that's is exciting."

Jean let out a exasperated sigh, like he couldn't believe what she'd just said. "God even knows what goes through your mind. You're like a goddamn psychopath looking for their fix."

"Highly functioning sociopath," Annie corrected, with a slight smirk.

Jean pulled out a new carrot and set about chopping it into small slices. "And seemingly a nerd..."

Annie's eyes lit up and she leaned forward, chair fully on the ground once again. He understood the reference. "You watched Sherlock?"

Jean looked back at her, seeming to smirk with amusement. "Obviously," he said with a smile. "Who hasn't? It's absolutely amazing. The deductions, the science, just yes. All of it's fantastic! Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant actor. He's so good looking too, it's just a bonus."

Annie nodded in agreement with everything he said. "Definitely. Most definitely. But I must say, I'm more of a Martin girl. He's surprisingly hot in a subtle way with his-"

"Will you quit your yapping?" Ymir complained from the corner, drawing both their gazes. "It's freaking me out. Two quiet loners finally getting along? Pfft, shook. Someone would think you were making alliances for the future..."

Annie shot a glare at her but closed her mouth. She had a point. Annie never talked to anyone. Reiner and Bertolt were childhood friends so they didn't really count. They were practically family to her at this point. She'd barely even looked in Ymir's directions before.

And Jean, he never talked to either her or Ymir. Barely even spoke to Bertolt, the gentle giant of the gang. The only person that he seemed to talk to was Reiner, which he had to because Reiner was the boss. To see her and Jean hitting it off so well could seemed somewhat suspicious.

Jean also went quiet, the only sound in the kitchen his knife hitting the board.

Ymir let out a low whistle, a smirk playing on her lips. She put away her phone, seeming interested in the situation. "That certainly shocked the two of ye. What, was I right or something?"

Jean cast her a look of disgust. "Don't make me laugh. I don't need to make alliances, especially not with either of you."

Ymir cocked her head to the side, leaning back against the wall. Though she seemed confident and cool, Annie could see through her mask. The taller woman was actually pretty frightened and was just pushing at them for a distraction.

Boring.

Annie stood up, sighing. She had enough of this for one day. She wanted to just eat food and sleep. Oh that would be nice. Nice if they weren't suddenly on the run from Levi Ackerman, the most successful member of the Survey Corps in history. Not once had he failed to catch and eliminate his prey.

"Anything good in the fridge?" she asked, walking towards Jean. She heard Ymir make a noise in the background but pushed it to the back of her mind. Whatever. She didn't like her anyway.

"Look for yourself," Jean answered, his tone neutral.

And that's what she did. The fridge was massive, almost twice as tall as her and at least four times as wide. In all fairness, she wasn't the tallest person you'd ever meet. Quite the opposite really. But it was one big fridge. It was also White lik ervythung else in this while house. She opened it.

There wasn't much in stock, she saw. There was Jean's bag of carrots which seemed to be the only fresh item of food in there. Weird. The rest was ready cook meals or microwave pizzas. Nothing too appealing or non-time consuming. Ugh.

Annie shut the door with a sigh. Nope. No food for her she guessed. Well, she'd better get used to. By the next day, they'd be all over the news. Basically wanted fugitives, hunted by police. Food might not be a privilege she'd get to have.

That was not something she was looking forward to.

"I'm going to bed, call me whenever," she announced, though neither of them seemed to care. She felt their eyes follow her but neither said anything. Grand. Whatever. She didn't care.

Annie once again stepped out into the hallway. She was almost ready to choose a room and crash for the night when she remembered her dark haired wonder. Oh right yeah. Mikasa. What to do about her. Reiner had told her to take care of her. Right. What to do.

Though Annie was throughly pissed with her, she didn't feel as though it was right to just leave her chained to the bed. Not to sleep through. She knew she'd absolutely hate it if that was done to her. She'd have to do something about it.

With a moan of complaint, she made her way up the stairs again. All she wanted to do was sleep and pretend that night had never happened. What a dream that would be. But no. She had to take care of red scarf McAckerface. She sighed. Where was Mikasa again? Third floor, third door. Right. In a few minutes she stood outside the door, pulling the key from underneath the carpet. She took a deep breath. Cool, Annie. Cool it, she thought to herself. We're grand. We can do this. She exhaled. Okay. She was going in.

Annie twisted the key and stepped inside. Once inside she shut the door behind her and locked it. No harm in being extra careful, especially around this supposed prodigy of an Ackerman. Besides, if any tiny thing went wrong, she'd be dead meat with Reiner.

Mikasa still lay in the same position, not even looking like she'd moved. The last light of the sunset was gone, replacing the warmth from the windows with a cold darkness. Mikasa seemed to be looking at the floor. But when Annie came in, Mikasa perked up instantly. "Annie!"

Annie raised a hand, quieting her. She sniffed. "I'm not here to talk, I'm here to make you comfortable for the night. I might be a criminal but I'm not cruel to force you to sleep like that."

Mikasa didn't seem to know what to say. She just looked at her like she was confused and awkward. Which it was by the way. "I.. Um-.. Well that's nice to know."

Annie snorted. What a waste of time. Okay right. She had to take care of Mikasa, whatever the fuck that meant. Well it was nighttime. Sleeping would be the most important thing on the list. She cast her eyes over to the headboard, frowning.

The handcuffs still clutched Mikasa's wrists tightly, drawing them up above her head. They were a secure pair, she'd be throughly trapped. And at her mercy... She almost slapped herself. Back the the kinky thoughts, goddammit. She shook her head, clearing her mind of what she really didn't need to think of.

"Right, so I'm going to uncuff you," she decided after a thought. "Don't try anything stupid. I mightn't look it but I'm quite the martial artist. I knock you into next week."

Mikasa smiled, seeming to get back her charm in a matter of seconds. "I wouldn't doubt that for a second. You certainly got the best over me, I'm going to bruise over for a week."

The attempt at friendly chatter just set Annie on edge. Her mind boiled. Mikasa dared chat like nothing had happened? Like they weren't enemies on the opposite side of this fight? Honestly the nerve of her! Arrogant and sassy. Now that was exciting.

"Whatever," Annie muttered, casting those thoughts away. "I'm not in the mood for messing so if you try anything, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you."

Mikasa just gave her a smile and nodded. Well okay then. Fair walked over to her and uncuffed her from the end of the bed. The woman lowered her hands, massaging her limbs with a wince. Annie stood back, looking down at her. An Ackerman, huh.

Mikasa raised her gaze. "Where do you want me to go?" she asked, politely.

"To hell," Annie muttered but quickly shut her mouth. No need for that. If Mikasa heard her, she didn't say anything. "Umm.. Eh, yeah," she coughed, trying to play it over. "Right. Um, I guess onto the bed?"

Mikasa stood up, once again drawing attention to the fact that Annie was painfully small. Mikasa was a decent half foot taller than her and thought she wasn't fat, twice as broad. But size wasn't power as Annie had proved countless of times. You just needed skill and intelligence.

"If that's what you want," Mikasa smiled with a cheeky wink.

Annie saw red and had to resist strangling her. She lowered her head, trying to focus on her task. But she couldn't. Was flirting all the woman could do? Did she not get that it just infuriated her?! Besides the fact that it was totally uncalled for, this situation was not the time nor the place.

Mikasa sat down on the bed, adjusting the red scarf around her neck. There was something about the way she was touching it, something that made it out to be something special. But Annie didn't care. Obviously. Pfft. Why would she care about that?

Annie swallowed and walked after her. She cautiously stood in front of her, balancing on her heels. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Mikasa gave her a weird look. "I don't think you understand the whole prisoner thing."

Annie flushed and shoved her hands into her pockets. She could feel her cheeks burning. "I'm trying to be nice instead of punching the life from that pretty head of yours! Sheesh!"

Mikasa raised her hands in surrender, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Okay, okay! Whatever you say."

Annie sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. This was not fun but had to be done. Fine. "We ain't got much food or anything really. I haven't got to look around properly."

"I'm okay for now. Don't feel hungry burn it's nice of you to think of it," Mikasa said, smiling at her. "It's kinda cute of you really."

Annie's nose wrinkled. Cute? Did she just describe her as cute? Annie huffed. She was anything but. "I'm not cute," she protested.

Mikasa just laughed, crossing her hands behind her head as she lay back on the bed. "Whatever you say, Leonhardt."

Annie's heart fluttered. There was just something, something about the way Mikasa said her last name. It wasn't like how Jean's braying voice said it or Reiner's booming shout. She couldn't describe it. And it annoyed her so much.

"Oh shut it," she snapped.

Mikasa nudged her side with her foot. "No need to get all touchy like that. It's a compliment."

Annie just didn't understand. She didn't understand at all. The way she was taling, the way she lounged across the bed like it was fine. It made no sense. There was no logical reason to what she did.

"How the heck are you so casual about this?" Annie asked quietly. "Just talking to me like we're friends. Like we didn't kidnap you against your will. I don't understand."

Mikasa shrugged, coming back up into a sitting position. She frowned, obviously thinking about the question. "I dunno," she shrugged. "Guess if you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it by now. Which means I have nothing to be afraid of."

"There are more ways to hurt you than just killing you," Annie pointed out.

"Fair point," Mikasa conceded. "But of your gang, none seem to be cut out for torture. You guys are just some low ranking criminals, the darker stuff isn't your game."

Annie had to admit that was kinda true. She'd never see any of her (could she call them friends?) people torturing another. They just weren't those type of people. Reiner and Bert were nice dudes, sweet and gentlemanly, if a like crazy when the mood struck them. Ymir, meh, she was all talk no show. As for Jean, he was weird but not like that.

"Besides, what would you expect me to do?" Mikasa was talking again. "Act frightened? Act tough? Shout and yell? I don't think so."

Again, fair enough. None of those options were pretty useful. Mikasa obviously wasn't the cowardly type not the brawling tough type. As for shouting and yelling went, it would not help the furious titan of a man deciding her fate.

"I'd expect you to be colder towards me," Annie said softy.

Mikasa let out a sigh. "No. I'd expect you to be colder towards me. Hate me possibly. Yet here you are, talking to me without a barrier to shield yourself."

Annie blinked twice. What?

"It's not that I don't really deserve your hate," the dark haired woman shrugged. "I mean like I did screw up your whole mission and I did kinda play on your feelings. Which was douchy, I know, but had to be done."

Annie blinked again. What? Was this an apology she was getting? Mikasa wasn't looking at her, her shoulders slumped.

"No offence, Annie, but you don't seem to be the type to be doing this sort of thing," Mikasa said. "Like sure, you seem unsociable and bored but you're not a criminal. Hmph. Do you even have any real idea what's going on? Why they're doing it?"

Annie had to admit the answer was no. She didn't know why they'd be robbing the bank. She'd thought for the money or whatever but there'd been no money bags. The others had taken nothing. When Annie had run in, Ymir hadn't even been in the section where the cash was kept.

She didn't understand. What was Mikasa saying? Was there some deeper motive that she didn't know about? If so what? Would Reiner and the guys even have something like that to go towards? She didn't understand. What could it be?

"Annie please say something."

Mikasa's voice pulled her back to the room. She jumped, shaking her head. Mikasa was looking at her, dark eyes full of worry. Annie mentally slapped them away. She didn't need people to worry about her. Especially not this person.

"I don't want you to hate me," the dark haired woman said softly. "I really don't."

Annie pulled her gaze away, shaking her fringe to hide her eyes. Hate her? Hate her? She felt so much anger and rage for how Mikasa had played her. A lot really. But it had upset her more than anything. Hate... Really?

"Annie..."

Annie looked up, catching Mikasa's eyes. For a few seconds she didn't say anything, just gazed at her. Mikasa stared back, a hint of desperation in her eyes. "I don't hate you Ackerman. I don't, okay? Just my feelings... are mixed up right now. I don't know what to feel."

Mikasa looked relieved, though she tried to hide it. Annie didn't miss that. "Thank you," she whispered. "It probably sounds stupid but that means a lot to hear."

Annie exhaled through her nose. "Don't get used to it," she muttered. "You're still my prisoner."

Mikasa rolled her eyes. "That part aside, I think we should start over."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "Hmph?"

"We started off badly," Mikasa elaborated. "With the whole robbery, flirting-but-oh-hi-I'm-actually-a-cop thing, you know? I do think you're cute and I wasn't fake flirting. So can we start over?"

Annie stared at her. Mikasa stared back. She sighed. Whatever. She didn't care. Obviously. "We can start over but don't expect anything from me," Annie sniffed. "I dislike the tall and pretty ones."

Mikasa grinned, nodding in approval. "There you go, starting things off with a flirty compliment. Nice."

Annie's cheeks bloomed red. "It wasn't flirty!"

Mikasa winked. "At rounding it off with an adorable blush. You didn't tell me you had game, Leonhardt."

"You know what, I changed my mind," Annie announced, thought there was an obvious touch of humour to her tone. "I want to go back to hating you."

"Keep going, you know you're loving it."

"I am not!"

"Back at it with the blushing, you are the most adorable criminal I've ever met."

"That's it! I'm going with the killing!"

Annie didn't really know how but she didn't go to sleep for a while that night. Her plans had a new direction. She ended up sitting on a fancy double bed next to a beautiful woman in a red scarf. Mikasa Ackerman. They spent hours chatting, just talking about God knows what and random crap. Just stuff.

It was so casual, so normal, that Annie actually felt at ease in her company. Like relaxed and off guard. Mikasa was beautiful and sweet and if anything, a little flirty. It was weird how normal flirting felt. Though she denied it, she liked it when she flirted with her. It made her heart jumped, her mind whir.

If she'd thought robbing a bank gave her kicks, talking to Mikasa was a whole other level. Her heart would suddenly race off only to be stopped by a stupid comment. It was amazing to feel. An experience truly out of this world.

Then in the darkness, only the faint moonlight streaming in from the window, the two of them lay down, side by side. Annie stared at the ceiling, her chest rising and falling gently. She didn't even know when they'd decided to lie down next to one another. They just had, silence keeping them company.

She was all too aware of Mikasa's presence beside her, of the woman's body heat keeping the bed warm do her. Just one roll and they'd be cuddling, bodies pressed up against one another. Annie closed her eyes. Wouldn't that be nice?

But she couldn't. Not here, not now. Maybe it was a possibility in another universe but not here. It was the wrong time and definitely the wrong situation for such actions. But it was nice to imagine.

She was drifting off, sleep finally pulling her into its clutches. Darkness lulled her mind away into the depths of dreams and dark shadows. In the few seconds before her mind shut off completely, Mikasa moved. It was only a small movement but to Annie, it was huge.

A soft hand closed around her own, gently squeezing her. Annie felt her stomach do a backflip. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Contact! They'd made contact! Internally, she was panicking her head off. What should she do?

This was basically an open declaration of hey-I-like-you. How was she supposed to respond to that? They couldn't be a thing. Not like this. What the shit. Was she a fool? What could she do? Obviously it would never work!

But the feelings she'd felt, oh they were like none other. Was it worth it though? Risking it just for her kicks? Such a risk, damn that would daring. Decisions, decisions, she needed to choos.

Ah to hell with it. Annie wrapped her fingers around Mikasa's and exhaled softly. The woman breathed too, adjusting her grasp to hold her more firmly. Now this was what a thrill ride was! This was pure excitement. Her whole body was alive, rushing with emotion and chills. But the good sort. The very good sort.

This was what she'd waited her whole life to feel. To feel such a rush, damn it was breath taking. And it was all because of that stupid robbery, on the one goddamn night. That stupid robbery that changed her life completely.


	4. That's the Real Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie wakes up after the night that changed her life. What lies in store for the group is anyone's guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey. Sorry about taking so long with the chapter. Took a while but here we go! Thanks for reading!

"Jesus Christ, Leonhardt, what the shit."

Annie's eyes fluttered open at the sound of an exasperated but amused voice. At first her vision was hazy but slowly the room came into focus. She stared at a ceiling, a white ceiling with a rather dainty chandelier. She turned her head towards the voice, eyes narrowing.

It was Jean, standing in the doorway, a tray of food and a silver key in his hands. His lips were pursed in a sigh but there was this amusement to his gaze. She internally moaned. Great. Great. This was exactly what she wanted to wake up to in the morning.

"Fuck off, Kirstein," she moaned, returning her gaze to the ceiling. "I'm sleeping, it's not that big of a deal."

Jean laughed, though he kept it quiet for some reason. "I can see that. It's just who you're sleeping with..." He trailed off, the hint of a smirk to his smile.

Annie blinked several times, eyes sliding to him and back to the ceiling. What? What was this? Sleeping with someone? Slowly, the memories of what had happened last night crept back to her. Her eyes widened. Mikasa. No way. No fucking way? She looked beside her, hardly daring to believe it.

True to the point, Mikasa lay to her right, the dark haired woman still sleeping peacefully. She was curled to Annie's side, one hand softly gripping her own. She was so soft... Her dark hair curved around her face, framing her features beautifully. It was like a mesmerising dream come true.

Annie's stomach did a backflip. Holy crap. Mikasa. Mikasa was sleeping in the same bed as her. She almost died on the spot. They hadn't done anything past holding hands but still... This was quite a development from the last time.

Jean was still looking at her in awe, a cocky grin still etched on his lips. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Answer. She had to answer him. Get whatever stupid thing that was in his mind out of it.

"Whatever," she grumbled. Best. Response. Ever. "What are you doing here?"

"I... Well Reiner told me to give the prisoner some food so I took the spare key," Jean started, glancing at the stuff in his hands. "Naturally we assumed you'd sleep somewhere else but... Hmph. Guess not."

Annie sighed and covered her eyes with her arm. She did not want to deal with this right now. Just get him out of the room. She could sort him out later. "Leave it here for when she wakes up. Or be a good boy and leave it on the nightstand."

Jean made an impatient noise. "I'm not your slave, Annie."

"Yeah but you're in my room so get out," Annie retorted with a cold sniff. "I'm not a morning person."

Jean muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously "no shit Sherlock" which she pointedly ignored. Whatever. It was her room. Or Mikasa's. Whatever. He still had no right to just barge in whenever he felt like it.

She heard him move and thought he was coming deeper into the room. But he left, closing the door with a click behind him. His footsteps were heard on the wooden landing outside and slowly faded away as he left, descending down the stairs.

Annie let out a sigh once he was gone. Well that was great. Fucking great. Now Jean probably thought things were developing between her and Mikasa. It was true she guessed but that wasn't something she needed the others knowing.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Mikasa's voice came from her left, still doused with sleep but definitely awake. Annie's eyes flickered to her. So the woman had been awake during the whole thing.

"Hopefully not," Annie sighed, jaws stretching in a yawn. "But if Reiner thinks anything is happening between us, God knows what'll happen."

She rolled over to face Mikasa. The woman was right next to her so her face was just inches from hers. Their eyes met and Mikasa smiled. Annie's heart skipped a beat. Her smile, oh it was beautiful. Fresh and wonderful.

"Is anything happening between us?" Mikasa breathed.

Annie didn't know how to answer that. What had that been last night? That stupid fucking night. They'd talked, they'd bonded, developed. As much as a pair could in a single night anyway. And then.. The hand holding... That...

Mikasa was still holding her hand, fingers curled easily around her own. She hadn't seemed to have let go since she's taken it up last night. Her hand was warm and slightly bigger than Annie's but it just seemed so right. So right to feel in her own.

Annie sighed, pushing her thoughts away. "I don't know yet. Things are complicated. Reiner's fucking angry, we technically kidnapped you and Levi the short wonder is going to be after our asses the moment he's allowed out. It's not easy."

Mikasa smiled slightly, exhaling through her nose. "I'd assumed as much. We can't be anything. Not now." She winked and raised their joined hands. "Then consider it a promise. A promise for what will come." She kissed the back of her hand.

Annie stared at her with wonder, heart jumping in her chest. How could she be okay with this? With her? Or more importantly, in this situation? It just didn't make any sense. She didn't understand. Then she realised she was still staring at Mikasa without anything.

Annie coughed and rolled back, releasing Mikasa's hand. Her skin still tingled from the feeling of her lip. She sat up, flushing. "Right. Um.., I should go downstairs."

Mikasa sat up next to her, not seeming offended. "And I?"

Annie cast a look back at her. "Should stay here. Obviously the prisoner shouldn't be wandering around. Simple enough. That's why Jean brought food, I'm guessing."

Mikasa leaned back against the pillows, kicking her feet out in relaxation. From this angle, it gave Annie a good view of her toned stomach. Which she ignored, obviously. "Breakfast in bed, I'm impressed, Annie. Most kidnappers certainly aren't this courteous."

Annie stood up, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. "We obviously haven't been in this game long. We don't know shit about taking care of captives."

Mikasa laughed, a tinkling noise that warmed her heart. "I'm not complaining though."

Annie went to the door and found Jean hadn't locked it on his way out. Idiot. They'd a prisoner in this room. Regardless of the fact she was in there, he should have locked the door. "Horse-face left food for you next to the door," she called back to Mikasa. "I'll be back later."

Mikasa was still sitting on the bed, watching her as she left. "See you then, I guess?"

Annie made a noise of agreement and ducked out of the room as fast as she could. Even she knew that there was a red blush staining her cheeks. Goddammit. What sort of person was Mikasa that she could make her get so flustered?

Annie Leonhardt wasn't someone that was flustered easily. She was cold and bored, unforgiving and generally unapproachable by the public. This stupid blushing idiot was not her. But how could Mikasa reduce her to such a foolish mess?

It was exciting to say the least. A new discovery, a new experience. She was intrigued yet it was humiliating at the same time. Mikasa didn't seem at all worried or confused. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted. How to spur a reaction out of Annie with just a flirty smirk.

She exhaled. Right whatever. That didn't matter right now.

She made her way down the stairs, heart weary in her chest. This was not something she wanted to have to deal with this early in the morning. A glance at her watch told her it was only half seven in the morning. She was never this early.

Ugh. Reiner and Bertolt were probably back from their late night cool down drive. Which meant she'd have to deal with them. More like deal with Reiner. Bertolt was too quiet to count as a problem. Hopefully by now Reiner would have calmed down.

She hovered in front of the door leading to the kitchen. Somehow, it had become their unofficial headquarters of the house. It made her nervous for some reason. The others were probably all in there, talking, discussing. Because they all knew what was going on.

Taking a deep breath she pushed it open and stepped in.

Inside, yes. They were all there. Reiner was sitting at the kitchen table, talking to Ymir who stood across from him. Bertolt was hovering at his shoulder, a hand on his arm. Ymir seemed to be the angry one this time, hands making aggressive movements.

Jean leaned against the wall behind Reiner, seeming to observe the threesome from a safe distance. He obviously had no intention of getting involved. He was smarter than he looked, stupid horse-bastard. She'd need to keep an eye on him.

"-can't just fucking leave!" Reiner snapped, shaking his head. "This is more than just a little problem! It-!..." He trailed off when Annie stepped into the room. They all went quiet, eyes shifting to her.

Annie swallowed her uncomfortableness and closed the door behind her. When she looked back around, Jean was staring at her from across the room. His eyes were unreadable, mouth a thin line on his long face.

"Annie," Reiner said.

Annie looked over at him, grimacing. Here it came. He didn't look angry, if anything a little worried. She shifted her shoulders to face him. She was ready for whatever he needed to say, be it negative or positive.

Reiner lifted his chin, clearing his throat. "Em.. Annie, I'd um.. Like to apologise for what I did yesterday. I was angry and you didn't deserve the blame. I'm really sorry about that."

His words were sincere, she could tell by the way he was looking at her. The fury in his eyes was gone, replaced a concerned emotion. It was touching, she'd admit. That her friend was still on her side despite what had happened.

Annie pulled a chair from the table and sat down. All eyes were on her, watching her every movement. They were all waiting, breaths being held, to see how she reacted. She sniffed. She didn't mind either way.

"Whatever," she shrugged, carelessly kicking her legs up. "The screw up was partly my fault so it's an understandable reaction."

"Regardless," Reiner said, shoulders shaking like he did when he was passionate about something. "I hurt you and I feel bad about it. I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me."

Annie waved away his words with her hand. "It's fine, Rei. I'm okay." She twisted the collar to show that where he'd grabbed didn't hurt at all. However, underneath her clothes she was sure there were a bunch of bruises mapping their way across her body. But he didn't need to know that.

Reiner looked reluctant to drop it so easily but after a look he nodded in agreement. Annie was relieved. She didn't do apologies so well. How was she supposed to react to them? She didn't really know, had never known. She'd always just nodded and smiled.

"That out of the way, what are we going to do now?" Jean's voice piped up from the wall.

He voiced what they all were thinking. What would they do? Would could they do? Their situation was dire, she knew that much. But what they could actually do was a whole other subject.

Reiner let out a sigh. "We failed in our mission and screwed up big time. For now, we're staying put until further notice. The Titans will contact us when they've adjusted their plans and I think they're sending someone later."

Annie frowned. "The Titans?"

"We never told Annie the plan," Bertolt said softly. His hand gently ran its way up and down Reiner's muscular arm in a soothing manner, his long fingers perfect for the job.

Reiner pressed a hand to his head, eyes closing in frustration. "Goddammit. I thought we could just leave it alone. That it would be fine. That we didn't need to drag her into this."

Annie was very intrigued. What was this? Were they finally going to spill what the whole thing was about? She hoped so. Being in dark wasn't fun at all. Especially when everyone else knew exactly what was going on.

"I don't really have the authority to tell you what's going on but I'll tell you one thing," Reiner sighed. "That robbery wasn't a little thing. It was huge, very important. We weren't taking money or any crap like that. No. We were looking for information."

"Information? About what?"

Reiner shook his head, lips pulling back into a grimace. "I can't say more than that without permission."

"Permission? From "the Titans", I assume?"

Reiner nodded but didn't say anything else. Annie figured that was all she was getting out of them. The others had the same dissatisfied expressions on their faces. Did they want to tell her? She didn't know, couldn't tell. But that made it all the more interesting.

Now this was exciting. Sure Jean had said stuff before that piqued her interest but now getting a solid name? This was something she could build on. Her mind was the knot, trying to figure out what they could possible be after. Information? On what? On who? What could be their true goal?

"Right. Well we'll see how that turns out," she shrugged, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. "Now about food? And Levi? Is he up our asses yet?"

Jean walked across to her, dropping a plate of pizza in front of her. It was mildly warm, obviously cooled down from when it had been heated. Annie looked up at him, an eyebrow arched in question.

"Microwave pizza's all we got now," he shrugged. "Saved you a plate."

Annie accepted it with a little curve of her nose. Pizza itself was one thing but microwaved? Ugh. Not pleasant at all. But still. If it was the only thing they had, it would have to do. She was far from satisfied but it wasn't the worst thing she'd eaten before.

"As for Levi," Reiner sighed. "We haven't got word of anything yet but he's definitely coming after us. It's only a matter of time."

Annie took a bite from her pizza and sighed. As assumed, things were not going so well. She wondered if they were on the news yet. What headshot would they use for her? That's the real question. She smirked slightly to herself.

"That's enough, you're dodging me, Reiner," Ymir growled.

Annie sat back in her chair, tearing a chunk from her pizza. Tensions was rising again from the tall girl as she anxiously drummed her fingers against the table. Ymir was a nervous soul but a fighter. Hmm.

Reiner sighed and turned his gaze back to her. "Look Ymir. You can't leave. We can't let you."

"Why?! I'm not your prisoner!"

Reiner didn't seem angry or in anyway aggressive which was impressive for him. "For your safety. We don't know what Levi and the Survey Corps are up to. If they catch you, your whole life is doomed."

Ymir's face was still crinkled but it seemed to soften slightly. The tall girl was still pissed but she could see the logic in his reasoning. Annie watched her with mild interest. Didn't matter what she wanted. They were in stuck in it together 'till the end.

Suddenly the sound of a car engine could be heard along with the crunching of gravel from wheel of a machine. A car was pulling into the driveway. Annie looked towards the window, spotting a slim black car making it way towards them. The glass was tinted but she could just glimpse a dark suited figure.

Reiner stood up, swallowing hard. Bertolt was at his arm, a hand tight to his wrist. Both of them seemed nervous, movements stiff and rigid. Annie arched an eyebrow. They knew who it was and did not seemed very happy to see them arriving.

"What? What is it?" she demanded.

Reiner exhaled, moving out from behind the table. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, scrunching his nose. "The boss."

Annie leapt to her feet, immediately intrigued. The boss was here? In flesh and truth? She grinned. Finally, she'd get to meet the big guy behind all this. She'd been waiting for this. She started walking for the front door.

Reiner started to protest but then dropped it quickly. Good. Because he wouldn't have been able to stop her either way. She trudged out into the hallway, leaning against the stairway with a casual air.

Multiple sets of feet were walking towards them. The door swung open, letting the morning light flood into the hallway. In walked two men, bodyguards from the size of them. Dark suits and heavy handguns at their waists. Annie made a note if that.

Then in came the "boss", an air of arrogance and power radiating off him. The swagger in his step, the way he puffed his chest out, it all just oozed arrogance. Annie's skin prickled.

He wasn't as tall as Reiner or Bert but he was still towering over her, her small statue not giving her much to rival. His shoulders were broad and his body seemed well toned, arms swelling with muscles beneath his checkered shirt. He had shaggy blond hair with a full face beard and glasses perched upon his nose. His eyes were instantly drawn to her.

He lowered his thin framed glasses to look at her properly, eyes narrowed. "Annie Leonhardt I assume. Oh Reiner has informed me about you, all right," he smirked coolly. A muscle in her jaw jumped. "My name's Zeke but they all call me the Beast."


	5. Guiltier by the Second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm aware it's been a while. Sorry. This chapter was a bit difficult to write but it's done. So here yah go.

The Beast, he said. Annie could feel the arrogance just pooling off him. It coiled about his legs, sweeping over her. Whoever he was, he must have been powerful. They locked eyes, her own blue ice meeting his curious fire.

"Boss!"

Reiner's voice broke through the silence as the rest of the gang shuffled through the door. Only Reiner made his way towards them. Bertolt and Jean stopped beside her, Bert's kind eyes looking down at her.

Ymir hung back in the doorway, doing everything in her power to appear bored and lazy. But Annie could see the flicker of fear in her eyes. Hmph.

She looked back at Zeke. He was still staring at her and she didn't flinch. Annie lifted her chin. "Nice to meet you, finally," she said, offering him a hand.

A grin appeared on his face and he took her hand, its enormous palm easily dwarfing hers. The muscles in his hand made it clear that he was an apt fighter. "Likewise. I've heard much about you."

Annie shook his hand firmly. "Is that so?" she commented casually. "I've heard nothing you, barely a word. Not even a name."

Reiner made a noise beside them but neither of the two broke their gaze. Zeke was such a strange guy. Was this really the boss that the others had been mentioning?

"Really, Annie? What a shame," Zeke sighed. "I'm a very interesting person."

"Boss," Reiner tried to interject.

But the Beast ignored him. His attention was solely focused on her. Annie's amusement grew. Interesting? Oh he definitely was. She smiled at him. "I'm sure you are."

Zeke gave her one last grin before turning his eyes towards Reiner. His expression changed. "That's out of the way," he said smoothly. "Now we go to business."

Reiner nodded hurriedly. "Of course, boss. Come this way please."

Ymir had already vanished into the kitchen and both Jean and Bertolt were already moving. Her tall best friend went in after the other two, his face unreadable. Annie wasnt sure what to do. Go after them? Or flee?

"Annie." It was Zeke again. The tall man lowered his glasses slightly and she nodded at him. "Care to join us? I'd love to get to know you more."

The look of his bodyguards implied that she did not really have a choice. Pfft, she almost laughed. As if she was going to decline anyway. This was a golden opportunity.

"I'd be honoured," she said sweetly.

She could see Reiner was getting a little worked up from their obvious sarcasm but he said nothing. Zeke bowed mockingly.

One of the bodyguards headed inside, quickly followed by Reiner and then Zeke. The final one looked at her and jerked his head. Watchful. Did they think she was a threat or just being cautious?

Annie stared at him for a few second before following the others inside. The table only had four chairs and there were more than four people. Zeke obviously took one and Reiner sat opposite him.

Jean and Ymir lingered at Reiner's shoulders like bodyguards while Bertolt sat at Reiner's left.

The Beast grinned at her and indicated to the last remaining seat. On his right. All eyes were on her, waiting to see what she'd do. She could feel the bodyguard at her back, his looming presence setting her nerves on end. She took her seat.

Zeke leaned back, exhaling. The buttons of his shirt strained to keep his massive chest contained. He was powerful, no doubt about it. "Let's get down to business," he growled.

Reiner's jaw was tightly clenched.

Zeke leaned forward, balancing his face on his hands. "So Reiner," he said coldly. "Care to inform me of exactly what went wrong? It was a simple job. Get the boy's file, get out. What could you not understand? "

Reiner swallowed. "The police.." he stammered. "The police.. They.. They..- they were there.." He closed his eyes and let out a tight breath. "They had a tip off. The only possible explanation. They knew we'd be there."

Zeke shrugged. "So? The Survey Corps showing up had nothing to do with how you failed so spectacularly."

"It wasn't-!"

Zeke cut him off. "Did you get the boy's file for me? Did you escape without them seeing your faces? Did you need to drag a hostage into the situation? Hmm Reiner?"

Reiner's shoulders started to shake. "I did what was necessary," he growled. "To get us out alive."

Zeke scoffed. "Pathetic."

Reiner's temper coiled beneath the surface of his face but he kept it down. "Sir-"

"Regardless of the tip off, you had all the necessary steps to retrieving that information for me. You failed so well for such a simple job. If it wasnt so important, I may have laughed at your failure."

Tensions were rising and Annie worried about who would snap first. Reiner and his boiling rage or Zeke and his cold anger. Each was a deadly force to be reckoned with. They stared each other down.

But it was Jean who spoke in the end.

"It was Levi Ackerman."

Four words, four simple short words, was all it took to stop Zeke in his warpath.

Annie could see the reaction as plain as day. Fury, absolute pure rage. Whoever the Beast was, he hated Levi. Zeke's features twisted until he truly looked like the beast he was named after. Eyebrows furrowed, lips peeled back in a snarl. Annie felt everyone in the room stiffen.

"Levi?" the man growled. "Is that true? Is that short bitch really involved?"

Reiner nodded.

Zeke's hands shook as he clenched his fists. "That bastard," he swore, fury coating every word her dpoke. "That fucking bastard can't just keep his nose out of my business can he?! He just has to do this. Has to."

No one said a word.

"We need to get back at him," Zeke growled, clicking his fingers together. "He can't do this and get away with it. Revenge. Ah. The hostage? Who is it? How much does he know them?"

Annie got a sinking feeling in her chest. Oh shit.

"Her name's Mikasa," Jean said quietly. "Mikasa... Ackerman..." He trailed off, realising what her surname condemned her to.

Zeke's eyes gleamed and his sly grin appeared once again. Annie felt her heartbeat start to race again. No. No. He couldn't. He wouldn't. They couldn't.

"Well that's brilliant. We're going to kill her."

Annie felt a tremor run down her spine. No. No. They couldn't. Mikasa.

"Boss," Bertolt began. "We're not-"

Zeke snapped his fingers. "Obviously not immediately. That would be no fun at all. We're going to make her suffer of course," he grinned. "Make Levi regret ever getting into this mess."

Annie made a noise.

Zeke latched onto her with interest. "Hmm? Have something you'd like to say?"

Annie shook her head. "No."

The Beast tilted his head. There was something in his eyes that scared her. A psychotic gleam that purred with amusement. "No what?" he said quietly.

"You can't hurt her," Annie said coldly. "Not any of you."

Zeke leered towards her. "I don't think-"

"She needs no part in your stupid feud with Levi," she snapped. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Leave her alone!"

Silence echoed across the kitchen. "It seems you are quite fond of Ms Ackerman," Zeke whispered. "Why is that?"

For that, Annie had no answer. What could she say?

"Annie," Reiner warned. As if she needed a warning. She already knew she was pacing on dangerous territory.

Zeke leaned back in his chair. "Well then. I think we've found our mole, boys," Zeke smirked.

"What?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Zeke laughed. "Dealing with grunts? Please. I've much better thing to be doing than dealing with this bunch of idiots. But... The tip off."

"The only people who knew about this mission are the people sitting in this very room. So the tip off. How did the police get it? Hmm? Do you understand? This means we have a traitor in our midst."

There was silence.

"And who better suits the description than you, dear Annie? You're new, have no clue exactly what is our goal. Who was on watch for any approachers but somehow managed to let the whole police legion surround the bank?"

Annie started shaking. Oh shit. Oh shit. This was not good. This was very bad.

"And here you are, defending one of the Ackermans... A colleague no doubt. Why else? It's the only logical explanation."

Annie shook her head. "I'm not... I'm not a traitor..."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "Why else would you be so fond of Mikasa? Come on Annie, I need a confession. Tell me why."

"I can't confess what isn't true."

Zeke's eyes gleamed. He was pleased for some reason. "Too bad. Take her."

The two bodyguards moved as one, swiftly darting around the table for her. They were so fast moving for their size. Annie only barely managed to dodge their meaty tried to grab her shoulder but as quick as a flash she flung him over her shoulder.

He hit the ground with a shout. The other swung for her but she twisted to the side. Once, twice, he missed and she shot a jab into his ribs.

"Fighting me, Annie?" Zeke called over the commotion, tone lazy. "You're just getting guiltier and guiltier by the second."

It was true, it was true. Fighting them just made her look guilty. She wasn't though. She wasn't a traitor. This made no sense.

Suddenly a fist collided with the side of her head. It stopped her in her motions. Annie hit the ground, crying out in pain.

Zeke stood over her, dusting his hands off. "Admirable attempt," he sneered. "But not enough."

The bodyguards grabbed her by the arms and heaved her to her feet. Her head spun and throbbed. She ached from where she'd hit the floor. She was in no condition to fight.

"Boss, please," Reiner started to beg. "There must be some mistake-"

Zeke turned to glare at him. "Are you questioning me? Do you want to fight me too?" He cracked his knuckles. "It's been a while since we've had a throwdown."

Reiner looked away. "No, sir."

Zeke nodded. "Good. Now come along. Let's go kill an Ackerman."

Annie groaned. "No..."

They were bringing her with them. Up the stairs they all went in silence. Step after step they climbed. And Annie felt only fear. Fear for herself but also fesr for what they'd do to Mikasa. Kill her. They'd kill her.

"Where is she?" Zeke asked.

"Third floor. Third room," Jean answered quietly.

Annie could feel the strong grip the Beast's bodyguards had on her arms. Tight about her biceps with no give at all. There was no way she'd be getting away from them, especially since her head spun.

Zeke stood outside the door, a cold smile on his face. And then he opened the door.

That was when Annie realised something was wrong. The door, she'd locked it when she'd left the room. But now it was open.

And the room was empty.

Mikasa was nowhere to be seen, not lying on the bed where she'd left her. Zeke stepped deeper into the room, eyes searching. Annie was made to follow. Her heart thrummed in her throat. Mikasa. Where was she? Where could she be?

She'd gotten out. That was the only explanation. A part of Annie was relieved that she'd escaoed her fate but then again, another part of her was so confused. How had she gotten out? The door had been locked. That door hadn t been busted down, hadn't been broken. It was simply open.

Someone must have let her out. But that was impossible. She'd been the only one to see Mikasa that morning and the others had been in the kitchen for the rest of the time. She'd seen them, talked to them. It wasn't possible. How?

Then her eyes fell on the tray next to the door. She was wrong. She wasn't the only one to see Mikasa that morning. Jean had seen her when he'd come to give her food.

But she'd been there. He couldn't have done anything.

Except he could have. The door. He'd opened the door with a key. The spare key. And hadn't she got the annoyed that he hadn't locked the door again? Because he didn't have the key. She hadn't even looked at the tray. He could have left any little present for the police officer to find.

She looked over to him. Jean's face was expressionless, not giving anything away. He just stared without seeing.

Zeke flew into a rage. "Where is she?! Where the heck is she?! Ackerman!"

They all watched as he tore through the room, fury unchecked. He tore apart the bed, almost yanked the wardrobe doors off their hinges, flung the curtains aside in search for the dark haired woman. But Mikasa was gone. She wasn't here.

Zeke stormed back to the group, squaring up to Reiner. His nostrils flared and even the broad man looked intimidated. "Who. The. Fuck. Was. In. Charge. Of. Her?!"

Reiner's eyes slid away from him and towards her. Her. Annie had been in charge of Mikasa. She understood what Zeke meant by looking guilty. All suspicion would instantly go to her. But Reiner didn't say anything.

But Zeke followed his gaze and his rage exploded once again. He lunged at her. Annie cried out as a fist slammed into her stomach and another into her face. Pain flooded her body as she crashed to the floor. The bodyguards stepped away.

"You little bitch," Zeke snarled. "You think you can get away with this? You think you can just let her go?! You are going to pay!"

And then he beat her. He beat her again and again, his muscles revealing the strength he truly possessed. Her torso was battered and she'd bruise all over. Annie stopped feeling, stopped fighting after five minutes. But he kept on punching, kept on lashing out. Blow after blow, strike after strike. It was endless.

Voices echoed in her ears. Yells and pleading of her group. Reiner and Bertolt, even Ymir trying to get him to stop, to leave her alone. They all tried to help her. But not once did Jean say anything. Not once did Jean try to help her.

Because as long as they thought it was her, the traitor was safe.

Zeke gripped Annie by the collar of her shirt. Blood streamed down her face, purple and blue bruises sprouting all across her body. Tears mixed with her blood.

"Take her back to base," he growled. "I'm not done with her yet."

That sentence, it promised more. Promised more pain for her. But it wasn't her fault. None of this was. She wasn't the traitor, no matter what he thought.

"I..."

The world went black as Zeke's fist collided with her temple and she slipped into unconsciousness.


	6. Listen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry it's been so long!! I have exams in like two days so things will be slow. Anyway, here have a chapter!'

Her skin felt like it was on fire, her hands tightly clenched. She was lying on something hard, flat beneath her with her limbs bound to it but she could hardly concentrate. A warm liquid ran down the side of her face and she realised they were tears.

Tears of her pain.

"She's a match-" A voice swam above her, disturbingly warped in her mind. Annie groaned lightly.

A hand landed on her shoulder, only to pin her to the table, and then there was a sharp sting just below her jaw. It hurt like a bitch and she couldn't contain her sob. The pain lasted a couple of seconds before seeming to seep away.

"-observe-" A series of beeping and then the click of a pen.

But something was wrong. It felt wrong. The tip of her fingers and the toes started to tingle. Started to vibrate and twitch against her will. It spread up her arms, bringing with it a new fresh wave of pain.

Her mouth opened in a gasp for air. What was this hell?

Her eyes opened in a flutter, seeking answers and salvation, but her vision was blurred. Harsh lights shone down on her. Two figures danced on edge of her line of sight but she couldn't tell who it was.

The pace of her spasms intensified. Her tears fell faster and she couldn't hold in any longer. She started to scream while someone hovered over her, a slight smile on their face.

And they just watched as she screamed and screamed and screamed.

~•~•~•~•~•~

Jean couldn't stop pacing. He couldn't keep still. He was just so panicked. The screams had started twenty minutes ago and they hadn't stopped yet.

Reiner, Bertolt and Annie. Zeke had taken them and nothing else had been said on their fates. Jean could only imagine what was going on behind those doors. And what was going to happen to him.

He was in the headquarters of Titan, the gang that the Survey Corps were investigating. So far, he saw nothing or no one else but there was always sounds echoing through the walls.

He hadn't had time to contact the Survey Corps yet which left him completely isolated. Things had gone to shit.

"Calm down, horse boy. Your pacing is annoying me," Ymir's snarky voice came from the corner.

He'd forgotten about the last member who hadn't been taken. The only other person who was in the same situation as he was.

Jean turned to look at her. Ymir was sitting cross legged, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her expression was neutral, as if she didn't give a shit.

His confusion bubbled within him. "Calm down?! How can you say that?! You don't seem to care that our friends are in there getting-"

Ymir jumped up, a wave of sudden fury erupting from the cool exterior. Suddenly she was standing in front of him, one finger pushed against his chest. "They are _not_ our friends." Her voice was low as a whisper and savage as a knife. "You are not my friend. We just worked with one another, simple as."

"We almost died together, we've worked together for months! We're comrades in the same job. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"No. No, it doesn't."

"How can you say that?! How can you possibly-"

"I don't care! I don't care about any of you and if you want to escape alive, you'll learn to be the same."

Jean was taken back. The raw truth in her words shocked him like nothing else. He wasn't even on Titan's side and he still felt for the trio. There had to be something else.

His eyes ran over her, trying to understand. Why was she adamant that she didn't care? And then it hit him.

"You've done this before."

Ymir paused. "What are you talking about?" She tried to hide it but Jean barely detected the tremor of worry in her voice.

Jean was almost certain now. "You've lost team members before. That's why you say you don't care."

"No-... I don't-"

"You've had to got through this before so you know what it's like. How long have you been with Titan? Did you let them die or did you fight for them?" Jean was on a roll now. "Did you hear them scream? Do you still hear them scream when you go to sleep at night?"

Ymir took a step back but Jean advanced.

"How long did it take for it to be over? How did you fail them? Ymir, who were they? What were their names? Can you remember or did you block it out? Why-"

"Stop it!" The desperation in her voice made him stop. Jean closed his mouth.

Ymir paced around, her lips thin. Her eyes were blazing with emotions that he couldn't even place. Fury, sadness, longing, hatred. All bundled into one pure flame. She whirled back on him.

"Look, you have no experience with Titan. You have no idea what they can do. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay quiet and let them do what they want."

"Ymir-"

Ymir snapped her fingers. "Shut up Jean. Just listen."

Jean once again fell quiet. Ymir swallowed and took a deep breath.

"These people, Zeke, they aren't good people. Reiner and the others... We might as well kiss them goodbye at this point. Because even if they walk out of here, they will not be the same people we knew. They're gone."

Jean tried to interrupt. "Ymir you're making no sense-"

But Ymir ploughed on. "I don't like you. Like at all. You're just some stupid know-it-all who looks like a horse. But I don't want you to suffer what they're going to feel. Stay out of it."

She stopped talking. Things were quiet and all Jean could hear was the distant echoes of screams. That could be him. Could be her. Was their friends. Was wrong.

"That's not okay," he whispered.

"I know it isn't but there's nothing we can do."

Jean shook his head. "But I can. I could do something. I could-"

Ymir suddenly snatched his wrist. Her eyes darted towards one of the many doors. "Quiet. Someone's coming."

How she heard it, Jean had no idea. He didn't hear anything but sobbing. He was almost going to accuse her of trying to escape the conversation.

But then the door opened and in entered Zeke and two of his henchmen. Jean could only stare at him. What had this man done to people? What was he going to do?

The door shut behind Zeke and the henchman stood on either side it. Ymir and Jean exchanged a glance. Zeke walked towards them.

"Hello, Jean. Ymir," he purred. "I think it's time we had a talk."

~•~•~•~•~•~

The pain was leaving her body, making her feel weak and limp. But it was the nicest feeling she'd felt in a long time. Annie lay still, her chest heaving up and down and her eyes stinging.

Her muscles throbbed and tensed but the loss of pain was amazing. She would have cried for joy if only she had any more tears left.

She didn't.

She'd shed them all in the past... How long had that been? To her it felt like days and days on end but in reality? It couldn't really be that long. Could it? She didn't know, didn't care as long as she was okay.

"First sample was successful, subject will given time to recover before the next dose." Someone was talking near her.

Next dose? What did they mean.., By next dose? She flexed her fingers. Would she.., go through that again? She couldn't, she wouldn't. She'd die.

"All subjects made it though the first dose," another voice said. "The most promising subjects we've had in years."

All...? She could hardly think. What was going on? Why was this happening?

A head appeared in her line of sight. She didn't recognise them. But from the lab coats and glasses it took a wild guess to say a scientist of sorts.

"Hello Annie," they said, touching her face. She couldn't even resist. "I'm sure you're in a lot of pain but don't worry, it'll be over soon. I promise. This is for you, I swear. For us, but it will help you. Trust me."

But she didn't. She didn't trust them. She wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

Footsteps walked up to the side of her head and then there was the sharp thing below her jaw again. This time she knew what was coming and didn't want it.

Annie clenched all her muscles together to fight the spasms but the pain rocked her anew. It was so much stronger this time that she didn't know what to do. She tightened her jaw.

Why. Why. Why. Why did she have to suffer like this? She almost cried. But this time, her tears didn't flow and she just glared ahead. Her mind was screaming, calling out for help, any help but her body didn't.

The scientist cooed down at her. "What a good girl," they praised. "I think you're most promising yet."

And she heard nothing after that. Heard nothing but felt everything as time after time, the sting in her jaw returned and with it, the pain. Her body may not have reacted after a while but her mind did.

It fought and fought, trying to save itself. And like everything, once subjected to too much her mind... it just broke.


	7. Void of Emotion

Jean's throat was tight as he sat down across from Zeke. The room was dark, lit only by a gloomy looking lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It was so unnecessary but he had a feeling it was just for the mood.

Ymir was sitting next to him, her face still and unamused. But her hands were fidgeting quickly and there was a bob in her throat. Her brief explanation hadn't been enough. He didn't understand.

Jean didn't know what he had gotten into. He was doing this for the Survey Corps, to gather information on the infamous criminal, the Beast. Which he'd done successfully for a few weeks. None of the crimes had been serious enough to risk breaking his cover.

But this? His life was literally in danger. Whatever they were doing to Annie and Reiner or Bertolt, Jean knew he wouldn't come out of it in his right mind. He could die.

But there was no way to back out now. He was stuck here until he could escape and find help.

Zeke gazed at them through his thin framed glasses, a lazy smile appearing on his face. The guards stood on the either side of the door, their dark glasses and grim expression just adding to the intimidating aura.

Jean swallowed nervously.

"So…." Zeke drawled. "I'm assuming you're quite confused about them, um, noises... that your friends are...making... But I can assure you, all this is for the greater good."

"What… What do you mean?" Jean said.

Ymir's eyes darted towards him but flashed back before he could catch her gaze. Her knee was bouncing quietly beside him but was quickly picking up speed. She was a bundle of nerves just waiting to explode.

Zeke arched an eyebrow at him but he didn't lose that psychotic grin of his. If anything it seemed to grow.

"What's happening to them?" Jean had to keep pushing. As much as he wanted to just save himself, he couldn't just… leave them there.. with whatever was happening to them. "Why are they screaming? What are you doing to them?"

"Jean…" Ymir said weakly. She looked at him desperately.

Zeke let out an amused laugh, his deep voice shaking him down to his core. "All good questions, my young boy, and you will get answers. But I do think your friend next to you is more qualified than me to inform. She does after all… have personal experience…"

Jean's eyes darted to Ymir. She stared back him, her hard expression replaced by something sadder. What?

"What does he mean?" Jean breathed.

Ymir looked at Zeke, then around at the guards and finally back at him. When she met his gaze again, there were only tears gleaming in her eyes. Slowly she shook. Jean could only stare. Ymir took a deep breath and started talking.

"You.. You asked about what happened before. You were right. I did have a team. Before you guys…" All the while Ymir was talking Zeke just smirked even harder at them.

"You asked did I hear them scream... Well I didn't. I didn't hear anything from them. But they heard me…" Ymir's hands were shaking and slowly closer them into fists. "I was the only one of my group to make it out alive…."

Why Zeke was letting her say this, Jean didn't know. Everyone knew the Beast's morals were… not on the right side. But killing and torturing their own members? He just didn't understand.

"They.. they injected something into me. A drug of a kind. These drugs… they have a compatibility rate of less than a thousandth of a percent… that doesn't make much sense really.. But hardly anyone can take them without being subjected to endless pain."

"I. I am one of the rare few. I.. I can do things other people can't. I'm older than you think I am. I can do some much more but at such a cost..."

"I don't understand… what did they do to you?" Jean whispered.

Zeke finally leaned forward, his fingers twined. "Don't you get it Jean?" he purred. "Don't you understand? This- this science, it's life-changing. These drugs can do miracles. Life-saving miracles."

The man pulled a knife from somewhere on his person and it took all of Jean's willpower not to sprint for the door. Zeke drew the blade across his finger dip without flinching. Dark blood bubbled from the cut, droplets hitting the table. But something else was happening.

Steam. Steam rose from the cut, wafting into the air before dispersing off into the room. Jean could only watch as the cut closed and vanished as if nothing had happened. Not a scar, not a mark, completely clean.

"Miracles," Zeke breathed. He leaned forward, face inches from Jean's. Jean's heart was beating so fast he thought it might explode.

"Don't you understand what's happening?" the Beast whispered. "I'm changing the world, one person at a time."

~•~•~•~

Mikasa paced back and forth, her impatience getting the better of her. Armin sat near her, her blond friend watching her with concern.

Jean had missed the 11:00 p.m. update. They hadn't dared try call him but it was 2:34 a.m. now and worry was starting to set in. Their team were silently freaking out. Hanji was sitting at the radio, the headset never leaving their ears for a second.

Marco, one of Jean's boyfriend, was in the same situation as her. He wasn't pacing but he was nervously chewing his nails. He stared at his screen, waiting for something to happen. Armin had always been the calmer out of the three but even his logical brain was starting to panic.

"Quit it, brat," Captain Levi squawked from his seat next to Hanji. His feet were resting on the desk, his lips curled. "Your footsteps are pissing me off!"

Mikasa whirled on her cousin, eyes narrowing. "Oh forgive me for being worried about my friend who could quite possibly be severely hurt! How dare I care that I might be the reason Jean's not answering. And how dare I panic because the Beast himself was with them!"

Mikasa had made it to a nearby farmhouse when she escaped from the house. From there she got a ride off the nice farmer to the police station. Everyone had been relieved to see her. But then the fate of Jean hadn't been known and this worried attitude had settled over everyone.

Mikasa was so worried. Not just about Jean but like… she didn't want to say it but Annie as well. They'd… bonded if that was what you could call it. What was between them, she didn't know. She really didn't think Annie had a clue what was going on, that she'd been roped into it because of her friends. And that worried her so much.

Levi blinked once at her before rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Jean's a strong kid. They won't get him. He'll be fine."

"I sure hope so.." Armin whispered, barely audible at all.

Levi cast him a look but didn't say anything. Mikasa took her seat next to him, laying a comforting hand on his arm. Marco took up the other side, pressing a feathery kiss to his temple. Armin smiled embarrassedly at them.

Minutes passed but it seemed like hours before a sudden crackle of static made them all jump. A hushed voice whispered over the system.

"Hanji! Hanji!" Jean hissed. "Hanji!"

Hanji spun in their chair, hands reaching for the radio. Marco, Armin, Levi and Mikasa all crowded around the scientist as they twisted some dials.

"Come in, Jean, please come in! State code-"

"There's no time for that!"

Jean yelled as loudly as he could for a whisper. Mikasa could feel Hanji's shock.

"You need to get us out, now! As quickly as possible. Please! You don't understand what's happening here," Jean was frantic, words coming out quickly and hurriedly. "Please. Track the phone, bust in here. Save them please!"

"Jean, calm down, please," Hanji tried again. "You need to explain-"

"There's no time!" Jean screamed. "Every second here is another they will suffer! Get us out!"

Hanji scrabbled for another dial, one that put them straight through to Erwin. "You're sure? We'll lose our inside source and you know the cost of that."

"Please! I've never been so sure of anything, get us out," Jean was practically begging at this point.

Hanji and Levi exchanged nods. "Sure thing, Jean. Hold on until we get there."

Jean's voice was relieved but also terrified. "It's not me I'm worried about. It's them."

Then the line cut off and everyone sprang into action. Hanji set about tracking down Jean's phone with Armin jumping into help them. Marco darted off to make calls to all the off duty Survey Corps members.

Levi however looked at Mikasa. "Come on, brat," he said grimly. "Let's show these bastards what Ackermans can do."

~•~•~•~

The place was absolute chaos.

Scouts darted in and out of cover, taking down members of Titan left right and centre. But they were getting equal fire in return. Guards were at every door and they seemed to be coming from deeper within the building.

For some reason, the Beast didn't seem to be there. Or he was hiding until he had a chance. Mikasa didn't know.

Pressed tight to a wall, she advanced from the west side of the facility. Levi had led people around the east intent on wiping them clean from the map. Her squad were confident and skilled.

So far, things weren't so good. Mikasa had shot down many and others had surrendered. But the amount of people here, it just wasn't enough. They weren't making any sufficient progress.

That was until Armin arrived on the scene. Though he was one of the younger members like her, it was no exaggeration that Armin was one of the most intelligent men in the whole organisation. With a mind for strategy and quick thinking, he had them moving forward with little to none casualties.

Of course, no plan was perfect and they had their slips but Mikasa made it through the building without fail. They swept through it, cleaning it of Titans until the fighting ceased.

They'd done it. They'd taken this base from Titan.

The Beast was nowhere to be found. Which really surprised no one. He was always escaping, somehow always on top of plans before they even happened. He was gone.

Jean was recovered pretty quickly as he knew they'd been becoming and gotten prepared. There was the girl Ymir with him too. She looked weary and just glad to be out of the dark for once. Hanji took up conversation with her.

But Mikasa was still searching.

"Save them!" Jean had said. There was only one 'them' he could mean. The three remaining of the group from that night. Mikasa needed to find them.

Through the corridors she weaved, a friend close to her heels. Connie followed her quietly, mainly covering her while she tore rooms apart looking for them. He hadn't asked why she still went on but he trusted her enough.

It was only when she got to what appeared to be a science lab did she start to worry. This was the last section left in the building and the most northerly. It was pretty much untouched.

Mikasa approached, her gun cocked and ready to fire. She pressed an ear to the door and listened. But there wasn't a sound to be heard. So she went in.

Mikasa shoved open the door and dove in, scanning for any signs of movement. It was a small room with a high ceiling. Machinery, medical equipment, strange objects. Nothing moved. But she saw a familiar body.

Sitting upright on a bed in the middle of the room, was a small blonde woman. Familiar indeed. As Mikasa took her in, she turned.

Crystal blue eyes met her grey. Annie Leonhardt stared at her.

"Annie…" Mikasa breathed.

Connie shifted nervously behind her. "Is... Is this who you're looking for?"

Before Mikasa was able to answer Annie stood up. There was something different about the way she moved now. Slower. More disjointed. Her bare feet touched the ground without a sound and ghosted her way across the room.

Connie's gun was still raised but Mikasa had lowered hers. "You're alive…" she whispered.

Annie tilted her head. "Mi...kasa…" Pause. "Hello."

And that was the last thing Mikasa heard before a fist like a brick slammed into her nose. Mikasa hit the ground, red flooding her vision as she cried out. Pain spread from her nose, darting up her cheeks and down her neck.

Briefly she registered a gun firing and then a body slumped next to her. Those blue eyes met hers again and Mikasa stared. Empty. Void of emotion and any sign of who she was.

Annie stared at her but she didn't seem to care that she was hurt.

Mikasa was starting to black out. She tried to fight it but there was nothing she could do. She was being dragged down.

And then there was the smile. Dark. Amused. Smile. Mikasa drifted off with the sight of empty blue eyes and that dark dark smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha I know I'm jumping povs but like, otherwise it wouldn't work. Thanks for reading!!


	8. Crystal Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apologies, I'm on holiday and haven't been able to write. Luckily I had this chapter drafted so okay. Thanks ^-^

Mikasa felt a pounding ache in her head, right at the front. It throbbed with white hot pain and she let out a groan. What the heck? What was wrong with her? Zound cluttered to her brain and Mikasa's eyes fluttered open. A soft blue light met her eyes and she stared for a few seconds. How nice.., but how off..,

"Mikasa!" A voice from her left startled her. Mikasa cast her eyes over to land on the face of her favourite scientist. Hanji sat next to her bed, their head propped on their hands. There was this soft smile on their face. Nice but like… why? Mikasa blinked twice.

She glanced around her. What? She was lying in the Survey Corps hospital bay. The room was dimly lit by a the blue light she'd seen and seemingly empty except for Hanji. The scientist was smiling at them, looking slightly relieved.

Mikasa was happy to see them. Hanji was one of her favourite people at work. Always up for a laugh, cracking jokes and making fun of Levi. Hanji was one of the few people that her cousin let make fun of him. That always amused her.

But why was she here? It didn't really make sense. It hurt to think. Why-!

A sharp pain flooded her system again and she cried out. She clamped her hand down on her face, only to scream from the pain that came from that. What the hell? Why did it hurt so much?

Two hands gripped her wrists and then her hands came away. Mikasa blinked the tears from her eyes to see Hanji leaning over her.

"Whoa, Mikasa," they frowned, voice distant. "Calm down. Your nose is broken. I've set it back in place so it should be okay but don't be going about touching it."

Mikasa stared blankly at them. "What? What… what happened?" She pressed a hand to the side of her head. Shit. Her head was pounding. Not exactly too painful but enough to be insufferably annoying.

Damn. What happened? She'd been… invading the Beast's headquarters? Yeah, that was right. They'd led an attack after Jean called in. Right. Yep. So where had that led?

She remembered fighting, ducking behind walls as they fired off rounds at one another. People dying. Her squad hadn't been doing so well until Armin showed up. And then finding Jean and Ymir. Running on ahead with Connie. She got a sinking feeling in her chest as her memory started to become clearer.

Annie. It had been Annie.

No wonder her face hurt like a bitch. It all made sense now. Her face dropped. She'd hit her.

Hanji touched her arm lightly. "Hey, it's okay." They cleared their throat. "It's easy to say the mission was a success in the whole save-Jean type of thing. I mean we didn't catch the Beast or even see him which is a downside. Though a lot of the data retrieved was corrupted, with Marco on the case, we've managed a recover a bunch of files."

They tilted their head. "A lot is science based and I've yet to go through them as I've been, um, quite busy with… things…" Their eyes flitted to her. "But once interpreted I say it'll be easy to see what goal the Beast is after."

Mikasa nodded. All that seemed right enough. They'd just been finishing when she darted off to find Annie. Annie. They hadn't mentioned the others of the gang. Mikasa looked up to see that Hanji was looking at the wall.

A rush of panic flushed through her. The gunshot. Connie had shot Annie. She'd fallen down next to her. Mikasa grabbed at Hanji. "What about Annie? What happened to Annie?!"

Hanji made a face like they didn't know what to say. Mikasa gripped the sleeve of their shirt, desperately looking at them. And Hanji sighed. "There's something you need to see."

~•~•~•~

"As you can see, when we retrieved them… the trio were unstable... Very much so," Hanji said quietly. "We've had to put them into solitary confinement for now until we can figure out what to do. So far, none of them have caused trouble."

Mikasa pressed a hand to the glass pane, staring in at the three separate rooms. Confined with the toughest metal and securely locked from the outside.

Reiner was in the first room, standing up. If anything he looked more beefy that he had. Muscles and pulsing veins ran down his neck and his eyes burned like furious coals. His hands were clenched and he let out a scream as he hit the wall. The glass kept it quiet but she could still see him. The man was raging.

Bertolt was sweating worse than usual. Bead after bead ran down his face and dripped down his chin. His shirt was soaked, even the bed sheet beneath him was soaked. Fear gleamed in his eyes as he hugged himself. He was rocking back and forth, seeming to sing or hum quietly. He stared at nothing.

Mikasa didn't even want to move onto the third room. Annie was alive. Thank god. But.. but if she wasn't anything like the others… She didn't even know if she wanted to see that. Hanji lingered beside her, watching her carefully.

Mikasa slid onto the third pane of glass and was surprised at how normal Annie was acting. She was sitting on her bed, back pressed against the wall. Her face was cold and still, not showing any emotion. She looked bored if anything. But she didn't move, didn't scream, didn't cry.

"She was shot…" Mikasa murmured. "How is she okay?"

Hanji tapped the glass gently. "I was wondering that myself. By the time Connie told us about what had happened, it should have been too late for her. It had been several minutes after the bullet entered her body. But when we arrived she was sitting up like it was nothing."

Hanji mimed injecting a needle into their neck. "Had to keep her down like this. She gave you a right beating though. You were out for hours."

Mikasa just didn't understand. This wasn't possible. No one could just get up from a bullet wound. That was impossible.

She stared at Annie, trying to puzzle it out. Scanning her skin, looking for some sign, something to tell her what was wrong. And slowly Annie turned her head as if to look at her. But she couldn't. This was one way glass. All Annie should see was a wall.

But those crystal blue eyes stared so intently at her Mikasa began to feel unnerved.

Hanji touched her shoulder. "I need to show you something."

Mikasa moved away from the windows to a nearby desk. It was littered with scientific looking stuff and sheets of paper. Hanji's desk she guessed. The scientist brought her over to a microscope and indicated for her to look at the slide. Mikasa looked at it from the side first. It was a bullet, she realised. Out of its shell. What?

"This is the bullet that hit Annie," Hanji explained. "I found if after the sweep of the room. Look at it. No blood or anything. It also was outside her body. But how? I don't know why."

Mikasa nodded, putting her eye to the lens. Slowly she adjusted the focus knob to get an accurate vision of the bullet.

"That's not the most interesting part," Hanji added. "Pay close attention to the head. See if you can see the blue shards."

Mikasa frowned peering at the head. As she focused she realised the scientist was right. There were blue shards of something on the head of the bullet. "What are they?" she asked.

Hanji scratched the back of their neck. "That's the weird part. They seem to be pieces of crystal. Yet not a single crystal was recovered from the scene. I just don't understand. It's mad. It's strange. But I'm very interested."

The bullet that hit Annie… was outside her body and covered in crystal. What could that mean? She didn't know but she would find out. She needed to know what happened to Annie.

She glanced back at the window to see Annie was still gazing at her. A shiver ran down her spine.

"Oh yeah the staring? She does that quite often," Hanji said. "It's like really creepy. But so exciting!"

Mikasa sadly could not the say the same. She was thankful Annie was alive but something was wrong with her. Something bad. Mikasa took a deep breath.

She'd find out. She was going to. For Annie. For the girl with the crystal blue eyes.


	9. I'll Tell You My Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be two separate but shorter chapters but then I was like why?? Why do that?? Just put it together and make super chapter?? Content? Yes. Idk man what am I doing? It's 3am yes

"Jean!"

Mikasa couldn't stop herself from running and throwing her arms around the man when she saw him. She and Hanji had left the lab to meet up with the others. To find out what they had to do.

But Mikasa, still shaky and aching, saw Jean sitting in the room and her emotions took control. All last nights worry and fear and adrenaline had all been for those. He'd risked his life to take down the Beast.

And he'd risked it again to save the trio.

God knows the horrible things that Zeke might have done to him if he'd been caught. Mikasa hugged him tight to her.

Jean let out a surprised laugh and hugged her back. They were pretty close in the way of work. A while back, when they'd all just joined for the first time, Jean had had a crush on her. But it took a few weeks for him to snap out of it and realise that both Marco and Armin were there waiting for him. They'd bonded because and laughed about it now.

"I was worried about you too, Mika'," he chuckled. "It's good to see you."

"Thank the gods you're okay," she gasped, clinging to him. She could feel his heartbeat through his shirt, strong and consistent. He was alive and well.

Mikasa released him and stepped back, suddenly embarrassed to see all the eyes on her.

Ymir sat beside him, the tall girl staring at her with narrowed eyes. She let out a 'hmph' and looked away. Levi sat near them in his spinny chair, pushed to the highest of course. Marco and Armin sat behind the group, tapping away at computers but listening all the same. The room was empty otherwise.

"Touching," Levi drawled. As always, her cousin had his fake mask of boredom that he always wore. "Glad you could make it Mikasa. We've got much things we need to discuss."

"I'm not discussing anything until I see Krista," Ymir snapped.

"God kill it with this Krista crap!" Levi growled, whirling onto her. "You have not stopped tapping on about her for the last ten minutes! Get your head out of your ass, we've got more important things to talk about."

Ymir glared at him with eyes that looked like they could kill. Hanji was hesitating at Mikasa's shoulder, wondering if they should step in.

"No. If I don't see her, I'm not going to talk. I don't give a shit about you guys and whatever the fuck you think you're doing. She is dead worried, she hasn't seen me in weeks, I can't answer her properly without endangering her, I need to see her now."

Levi held her gaze for a good thirty seconds before exhaling in frustration. "Stubborn little bitch," he muttered. He waved a hand at Armin behind him. "Oi coconut. Get that Krista girl before I go nuts."

Ymir's expression instantly shifted into one of relief, though she quickly hid it from them. "Krista Lenz. She should be in whatever fancy databases you have here."

Armin nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Levi turned back to Ymir, chin propped up on his head. "You gonna talk or we going to have to wait until after your girlfriend gets here?"

"After."

Levi snorted and spun back around. "'Course. What do I fucking expect. These fucking kids nowadays Jesus Christ how does Erwin do it?"

Hanji sat down next to Levi, sliding an arm over his shoulder. "Now now, Levi," they grinned. "No need to be so angry all the time. There's such thing as smiling!" As if to demonstrate, Hanji started beaming.

Levi rolled his eyes but he didn't push them away.

Mikasa awkwardly sat down next to Jean. They exchanged glances. The next few minutes were left in an awkward silence, broken only by Hanji making the occasional joke at Levi. Who ignored them or just snorted.

Ymir seemed impatient, worried almost. Mikasa frowned. Whoever this Krista was, Ymir certainly seemed to care about her a lot. This woman was a mystery really. They knew nothing about her and here she was, sitting with them ready to tell them about the Beast. Could they even trust her? Or was she just a spy?

Suddenly the door opened and a small blonde person ran in. At first Mikasa thought it was Armin but quickly realised it wasn't. They were a girl, though they did look similar from behind.

"Ymir!"

The girl ran across the room like lightening and threw herself at Ymir. Ymir had risen the moment she saw her and caught the girl in her arms, a noise like a sob escaping her lips. Their heads quickly moced for one another and they kissed for quite a long time. Mikasa had to marvel at the height difference.

"That was quick," Levi muttered to Armin. "Not a bad thing but too quick. What happened?"

Armin stood awkwardly next to them. "She, um… she was already here… wouldn't stop bugging the secretary until they let her stay… um, she'd quite persistent... kept yapping on about Ymir this and Ymir that.. I.. .just...yeah."

Ymir and Krista finally stopped kissing and just held each other for a long time. The pure love between them was beautiful and something to be envious of. The way they looked at each other, held one another, just together. Envious.

Which Mikasa was. It had been a while since she'd been with someone in that way and felt happy. She just didn't have time. But even now she felt her mind straying to Annie, wondering that if maybe things had been different, what would have happened there?

Annie had already confirmed her interest but said that the situation was wrong. They couldn't even try. And now, with whatever fucked up thing had happened while under the Beast, it wasn't likely she'd ever her a chance.

She was so worried about the trio. What the heck had happened to them?

"Oh aren't you two just the cutest?!" Hanji squealed, jumping past Mikasa to stand beside them. "Hi, my name's Hanji, I'm the lead scientist around here! You must be Krista, nice to meet you!"

Krista, who'd seemed to have calmed down at this point, beamed at them. She let go of Ymir to shake the scientist's hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"Yah! This is Levi, don't worry he's always grumpy but he's really a sweetheart." Levi scowled at this description but nodded at the blonde. "Mikasa, Jean, you met Armin already and that guy back there is Marco."

Krista smiled at them all. That very smile seemed to lighten the atmosphere in the room. Wow. Mikasa was amazed. If she didn't know any better she'd think this girl was a goddess. A goddess of happiness.

"Nice nice," Levi said, leaning forward. "Very nice. Now Ymir darling, do you want to share a story with us?"

Ymir's happy mood was instantly thrown back into a worried expression. She sat down, Krista sitting on her lap. She nodded, exhaling. When she opened her eyes Mikasa noted a tremor of worry in them.

"Babe what's going on?" Krista asked worriedly.

Ymir gave her an attempt at a reassuring smile which didn't really pass. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Krista. My past is a lot different than what I told you it was." She looked up at Levi.

"Okay. I'll tell you my story."

"It all began back a long time ago, longer than you guys all think. I, I didn't have any family. I never had any family. I don't even remember my early years. All I know was when I was five, I was on the streets.

I was forced to fight, fending for myself, stealing, begging. Anything to survive. Food was a rarity, warmth a luxury I never had. Being homeless back then, it was awful. No one gives a shit about that kid living in the gutter. Some even have the nerve to kick you out of your corner and beat you.

I knew kids like me that had died on the side of the road. Hunger, illness, cold. It took everyone. The public? Got the police to throw the bodies into the river. All those kids that never had family, never had friends, never had a life.

I was one of them. I was like that. I was smarter than most, able to pickpocket to survive. I never got much and the shops never really let street kids in. But I got by. Barely.

But then, this man came up to me. I was twelve. He wasn't like the others. He was kind, he was nice, he offered me a home. He spoke of a house where I could live, a family that would protect me. Give me food, warmth, toys.

It sounded like heaven back then. I went with him and spent the next years in pure bliss. Never again did I feel a empty stomach. Never did I curl into a bush to avoid the rain. Never did I have to steal for myself.

He gave me everything I needed.

I'd do anything for him. He saved my life and gave me the happiest years I've ever had. And when he came to me in a panic, telling me he owed something to this, I went willingly.

I was sixteen when I joined Titan. I was one of the youngest members but they seemed to be the most interested in me. I didn't know why and nor did I care.

That was when I met my friends. Teenagers like me. Ilse... she was special to me. We were training, fighting, mental, everything. We didn't know what we were training for but it didn't matter to us. We were having the time of our lives.

I never thought much of the blood tests or the other groups that also trained with us. I didn't notice them slowly going missing because I was so caught up with my own friends. We were tight knit, so happy and loving.

I was eighteen when the boss told us he had a test for us. That was when the robberies started.

It was small places at first, little shops out in villages, but gradually the places he picked got harder and more public. The targets greater and more dangerous. But we were able. This was what we worked for. Our training was put into this. We did all he asked and with flying colours. We were great, the stars of Titan and everyone was jealous of us.

Little did we know that meant that we were the ideal candidates.

We were taken in the middle of the night from the very beds they'd given us. Dragged down to the labs we didn't even know existed. But we didn't fight, didn't try to escape. It was just another test wasn't it? Ha.

It was another test but we didn't know it would be our last. Their last.

I was the first to take the injection, right in the neck. I don't remember what happened after that. The rest of that night was a blur, nothing but white hot pain. I screamed and screamed and screamed. He was there all the time. Watching. I felt like my nerves were on fire, like something was tearing out of me from the inside. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt.

I was the only one to make it through the night.

I woke up staring at a ceiling. They were talking but I couldn't hear them. I was too fixed on the other tables. Bodies. Bodies. One for each of my friends. They hadn't even covered them. They just lay there dead. It was then I realised how fucked up this all was.

Ilse, my first ever love, lay dead next to me while I lived. While I survived. How was life fair. Why couldn't they just let have this one thing that I loved without ripping it away from me. I sobbed for hours and hours until they moved the bodies. Where to I didn't know. Nor did I even want to.

He was ecstatic. I was the only other patient to have survived the treatment. And it was life changing.

I was stronger, I was faster, I was better than human. I heal faster and better. I no longer age. I'm stuck as my twenty year old self and haven't aged a day. And I won't ever again.

They studied me, used me, tried to perfect the treatment for others. And I let myself be used. For years I've joined newer groups, ones readying for the treatment and others not. I watched them die. Again. Again and again they all died.

It was like losing them all over again. Over time I became numb to it and it just became routine. Help them as much as I can while pretending to be normal and weak. And then curl into a corner listening to their screams… until they just stop….

It was only recently they started letting me go out. Started letting me have a life outside of Titan. That was when I met Krista.

She was smart, strong, beautiful. But she wasn't like us, she wasn't fucked up. And I was intrigued. Intrigued that we could be so alike but so different. And the more I learned the more I realised Titan needed to be stopped.

And then I fell in love.

Things started changing then. I couldn't endanger her. They knew how close I was to her. They'd been monitoring me after all. I couldn't do anything. So I did nothing. I stopped trying to change things. And it hurt. It hurt to watch them suffer but for her, I'd do anything.

And I was assigned to a new group. Of Reiner, Bertolt and Jean. Annie came later but she'd always been a target of Titan. We'd gotten a hold of her medical records and knew she was perfect for the treatment. She was just... perfect.

While the job served as her first joining Titan it also served another purpose. We were looking for the records of another. This boy, a kid really, the only other patient to have survived the treatment. To be like us.

He was the son of one of our scientists and was the most promising. But his father broke away frok Titan and did his own work, his own injection. The boy, he escaped into the normal world before we could get a hold of him. He joined another family and became one of them. The files were meant to help us take him back.

But we failed. We failed and Zeke was furious. He took the trio years before he should have even tried to use them. And he's gone to search for the boy which is why he wasn't there when you came to save us."

They all stared at Ymir in a mixture of horror and amazement. This tale… this story… It seemed like fiction. It couldn't be real. The death and the pain, it was awful and inhuman. Using kids as test subjects? No. No. That wasn't right. It was impossible.

But it was. She was living proof.

Krista clung to her, blue eyes wide in shock. Ymir couldn't look at her at all and stared at the floor. Her body was shaking gently.

"And who is this boy?" Levi asked, his voice as soft as a whisper.

Ymir looked at him. "His name is Eren Jaeger. He lives with the Ackermans which was why Zeke came the moment he heard we had Mikasa."

She kept taking but Mikasa barely heard her. The last patient was… Eren? Her brother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yah


	10. Krista Lenz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that I've taken so long to update. It's been almost two months!! But to make it up to you guys Chapter Eleven will come out tomorrow so idk look forward to that!

Ymir let out a sigh and lay down on the bed given to her by the Scouts. Given. Pfft. More like forced her to take.

After what had happened she was not going to be leaving this building without strict supervision. If her backstory wasn't enough to rattle them, her involvement with Titan certainly was.

She crossed her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. Things were gone to shit. Life would be better without Titan; there was no competition. She had freedom and the choice to do what she wanted.

But was it safe? Were the people she cared about safe? Zeke would no doubt find out about her involvement with the Scouts and what she'd told him. How, she didn't know but he'd find out. And once he did, god only knows what would happen to her.

"Hey, Ymir…"

Ymir opened her eyes to see Krista standing in the doorway, arms nervously crossed over her chest. She gave Ymir a cautious smile. Even with the worry in her gaze, Krista still made her heart fill with warmth. Her Krista, her angel and saviour.

Before she came, Ymir's life had been so different. So dull and chained. Just following orders without question. But when she met Krista that all changed.

She learned of what it was like to be free again. What it was like out in the real world where life was different and more beautiful. Where life was considered a blessing and not a tool for twisted experiments.

Ymir sat up, patting the bed next to her. "Come sit. I think we need to talk."

Krista had known nothing of her past or even anything about her. She knew her, she just didn't know the _darker_ her.

Krista closed the door softly behind her and came towards Ymir. The hum of outside noise seemed to die down until the only sounds were just the two of their inhales and exhales. The light bulb hummed lowly above their heads, the only light source.

Ymir felt a soft hand take her own. "Ymir…. I understand why you didn't tell me. And it's okay."

Ymir shifted so she could look at her. She was soft and beautiful, as gorgeous as an angel but that wasn't why she fell in love with her.

Ymir fell in love with Krista because she didn't judge her. Krista accepted her for who she was. Admittedly she did try to make her more polite to people which Ymir did understand was better for everyone.

But Krista was kind and loving but also fiery with passion. And Ymir fell in love with her.

Ymir shook her head. "I lied about who I was and what I am. I don't even iknow/i what I am." Ymir raised a hand in front of her, gazing at the faint coloured veins running beneath her skin. "Whatever they did to me, I'm not human..."

Krista took her other hand from the air and pressed a kiss to it. "We all have secrets Ymir. We're all different and in the end, it doesn't really matter. It's the person you are."

Her blue eyes were shining brightly and Ymir gave her a weak smile. Krista genuinely believed this. She believed in her.

Ymir felt something shift in her chest. "Krista… I... you…"

"Ssh. Please. It's okay." Krista pulled her into a hug. Ymir wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, nuzzling into the side of her neck. Her scent was the same as the first time Ymir met her, and that drew and grounded her.

For minutes they just held one another. Just sat wrapped in each others' arms. Ymir closed her eyes and sighed. This was one of the reasons she wished to leave Titan. This comfort.

After what seemed an age, Krista pulled away and sat down on her lap. Her girlfriend threaded her fingers behind her neck, thumbs stroking slow strokes across her skin. They smiled at each other.

"I trust you Ymir. And I'm glad you trust me," she breathed. "Which is why I'm going to tell you something about me that I've never told anyone before."

Ymir tilted her head. "Go on, babe," she murmured.

"My name is not Krista Lenz."

It took a few seconds for Ymir to register what she said. And she felt confused. She didn't understand.

But before she could ask she continued talking. "Krista is a name I chose to hide my real identity from the world. Because I was scared of my family and what other people think."

"My name is Historia Reiss."

Historia Reiss. Reiss. For some reason that name sounded familiar but she couldn't put a finger on it. Ymir'd heard it before but where she didn't know.

Kris- Historia was looking at her as if waiting for her to say something.

"Historia. Historia." Ymir tried out the feeling of her name on her tongue. It would take her some time to get used to it but strangely it felt nicer and more genuine that Krista.

"I love you Historia," Ymir murmured, pressing a kiss to her nose. The look of relief on her face made Ymir's heart flutter. Historia leaned in and their lips met.

Historia tasted sweet like she always did and Ymir basked in the feeling of her against her. Her hand ran down her cheek to cup her jaw, supple fingers carassing her skin gently.

Between kisses Historia murmured sweet words to her. This was the woman she loved. The woman that changed her life.

Historia exhaled. "I love you too, Ymir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I didn't really elaborate on Historia's family and why she's hiding her name but don't worry. I've got a plan for that later (maybe)(I hope)  
> ___________________  
> Also! As I'm looking to improve my writing I'm looking for someone who can be critical but also gentle about it(??). I hope you know what I mean. Just someone who'll read it and point out weaknesses. 
> 
> If you're interested message me as @the_demons_behind_your_smile on Tumblr or find my ff.net account and message me there. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	11. Such an Interesting Development

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry, there was a mishap with Chapter Eleven and I'll apologise in advance for the shortness. Hope you still enjoy!

It was cold. And quiet. Not in a bad way though. There was something settled about where she was. Relaxing in a way she'd never felt before.

The room was small, not small enough so she couldn't move but small enough that it was mildly uncomfortable. The door was locked from the outside and all walls were blocked in. Strong solid steel.

The only light source was the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. It shone light on the minimal furniture they'd lain out for her. A surprisingly clean toilet in the corner, a polished sink, a low lying bed in the other and nothing else.

This was such high class service. Hmph. Better than she'd expected at least.

She could feel them. She could feel them outside her glass cage; they were watching and observing. Taking notes on what she did. She could feel them. She could feel her.

There was no point trying to escape from her metal cage. She could already tell that would be a waste of time. No matter how strong she was, these doors would hold her. Electronically locked and bolted they wouldn't budge.

But it didn't matter.

Time didn't matter and she knew it was only so long before she'd be able to get out. The cage and their curiosity would only hold so long and when they broke… she'd come out like a lion.

_______________________________________________________

The next day was a lot more subdued than usual. The mission against the Beast, while being useful in the information and people found, had left quite an empty gap in their information feed.

Their inside voice was gone and the fact that Zeke seemed to have jumped off the radar meant that no one knew where to start looking for him. That didn't mean they weren't of course, it just meant that their luck was less than successful.

Mikasa decided to spend the day with Hanji, glean most of the info first hand from the scientist. Hanji was all too glad to have her and was very interesting to hang around.

The first early hours of the morning were spent observing the trio in their glass cells. Not much had changed, though Reiner's yelling and screaming seemed to have calmed to merely angry looks and exhales. They did all sleep like humans again, weird quirks vanishing when they closed their eyes.

Hanji was quick to take that down, leaning against the glass to get a better look. The scientist had this interested gleam in their eyes and they stared intently. Mikasa didn't even know what they were looking at but it certainly seemed intriguing.

It was Ymir came in did she understand most of it.

Ymir stalked inside, an annoyed expression on her face. She was on edge though, a slight nervous tick to her feet which was stilled only by the small blonde clinging to her arm.

"Hi Hanji," Krista greeted. "Hey Mikasa."

Hanji was scribbling in a notebook while Mikasa turned pages and both looked up when they came. Mikasa waved and Hanji's face lit up.

"Ah ha good! Hello Krista, Ymir," they grinned, setting down their pencil. "Did you have a nice stay?"

Ymir scowled as they stopped in front of Hanji. "I've had better." She glanced down at Krista who was glaring at her. "... but I've had much worse."

It seemed to be her way of saying it was okay. Mikasa still wasn't sure whether or not she liked Ymir. She was abrasive and rude but oddly likable.

"So what did you want me for?" Ymir drawled.

Hanji slid around the desk, a crazy looking grin on their face. Mikasa held back a smile. When Hanji got that look, things would get so interesting. The scientist was the embodiment of crazy but also intensely awesome.

"I'd like to run some tests on you," Hanji said pleasantly. "Just to see the effects of this drug in the reports. I just can't see how it's possible yet you are living proof!"

Ymir made a noise almost like a growl but nodded the scientist on. Hanji let out a satisfied squeal and darted back to their desk.

Hanji was suddenly back beside Ymir, a long syringe in their hand. "I'll need a sample of your blood please," they beamed.

Ymir looked slightly taken back but held out her arm anyway. The scientist gratefully took it and rolled up her sleeve so she could access her skin. She hissed when the needle slid into her arm but Hanji had withdrawn it before she could complain.

"Is.. is this them?" Krista had wandered over to the three glass chambers, blue eyes wide as she gazed at them.

Mikasa looked over and the moment she did, she noticed a blonde head turn towards her. It wasn't Krista.

That was the second time that Annie seemed to be able to see her. Her eyes stared through the one way glass at her, ice cold with a neutral expression. But her eyes smoldered in a way Mikasa had never seen before.

Mikasa felt a shiver roll down her spine. "Hanji-" she started.

"Ah yes!" The scientist whipped past her to Krista, not seeming to have heard her. "Such unusual cases, very different from anything in the Beast's notes."

Krista looked a little confused but nodded anyway. Ymir strode across to them, a hand massaging her forearm. The taller woman leaned over her girlfriend and frowned.

"They do not look good," she murmured. "Different. _Quite_ different from yesterday."

Mikasa slowly joined the three, eyes never leaving Annie. And Annie's eyes never left her. The woman's chest rose once in a great inhale before she exhaling deeply through her nose. She shifted to the side.

"Hanji, I-"

They were already looking at her. "It's like she can see you," they muttered, pressing a hand against the glass. They tried feeling, perhaps looking for some sign of defect.

"... What the fuck is going on?" Ymir and Krista had caught onto it and now both were looking at the glass with them.

Hanji shook their head. "This… is such an _interesting_ development!"

"Uh… no it's creep!"

"Well yes... But also interesting!" Hanji scampered around to a computer and started typing. "Humans are obviously not capable of seeing through one-way glass but maybe she's sensing or something. Is that possible? Probably not. Is it exciting? Yes!"

They looked up. "Mikasa move two feet to your right."

Mikasa hesitated but did as she was asked. Everyone was silent.

It took a few seconds but then Annie's head turned with her. Ymir let out a low whistle while Hanji started murmur under their breath.

"Is this… is this normal for you guys?" Krista asked a little quietly. The small girl glanced back and forth between Annie, Mikasa and Hanji, a look of pure confusion on her face.

"No… it's not normal at all," Mikasa muttered. Her nerves were on edge. What the hell had happened to Annie to make her like this?

Hanji shrugged. "This is something that I need to look into. Beastie had many files in his base that I've yet to look into. Maybe they'll have something on it in here!"

It was great timing that right after that Levi shoved the door open, cold eyes latching on her. "Oi, Ackerman," he snapped. "We're gonna need you in the hunt for Eren."

Mikasa had almost forgotten that her brother was involved in this. Almost. Eren wasn't in the city at the moment and Mikasa didn't know if she was relieved or worried. Wherever the Beast was gone, he was sure to be looking for him.

Mikasa glanced back at Annie and felt a shiver roll down her spine. Anything to get away from whatever was happening.

"Roger that," she nodded, stepping away.

Hanji said nothing and just waved her on. Their eyes were intently scanning the screen, seeming to speed read like she'd never seen before.

"You too, Dancer," Levi said.

Ymir bristled and almost snapped back but Krista nudged her. The taller woman slowly closed her mouth and stepped back.

"Dancer?" Mikasa frowned.

"Eh. Zeke is called the Beast, she's called the Dancer." Levi turned and indicated for them to follow him.

Ymir was close behind them, saying nothing but listening closely. Levi strode on ahead but for all his strides, Mikasa and Ymir kept up easily.

Her cousin nodded towards the two of them. "You ready for an assignment?"

"Ready as always, sir." Ymir just nodded.

Levi smirked. "Good. Then let's find Eren Jaeger."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ^-^


End file.
